7 shot dead in last few days of Comelec gun ban

A total of seven people were shot dead — five of them in Batangas province — in the last few days of an election gun ban that ends this week. In the Philippine capital, radio dzBB reported that motorcycle-riding men gunned down two men in separate incidents in Quezon City and Manila before dawn Tuesday. The first victim in the Quezon City incident was initially identified as Rogelio Lamayo, according to a report by dzBB's Roland Bola. Police said at least two men aboard a motorcycle shot Lamayo at the corner of Gumamela and Riverside Streets in Commonwealth village in Quezon City. Shells recovered from the scene indicated the suspects used cal-.45 and 9-mm pistols, the same report said. In Manila, a motorcycle-riding man shot Jose Jordal, 25, while the victim was walking along United Nations Avenue. Jordal died from a gunshot wound in the chest. Batangas victims Meanwhile, in Batangas, radio dzXL reported late Monday that at least five men were killed in separate incidents in the province. In the first incident in Batangas, the bodies of Luis Aguinadldo, 45, and son Elmer, 25, were found near the shore of Abung village in San Juan town. Both victims bore gunshot wounds in different parts of the body. The second incident involved cockpit operator Bernardo Arevalo, 51, who was shot dead in Luntal village in Tuy town. His assailant, Jomar Potentado, was arrested, while police are looking for his companion identified only as Tracy. In the third incident, unidentified gunmen shot dead Jay-Ar Agoncillo, 25, in Barangay Poblacion 6 in Tanauan City, in front of his friends. The fourth incident involved Noel Caguimbal, 52, who was shot dead in front of his wife in Aguila village in San Jose town by two motorcycle-riding men. The gun ban ends on Wednesday, with permits to carry firearms outside of residences being honored again starting Thursday. Police have so far arrested at least 3,005 people for violating the gun ban that started last January 10. The National Police earlier said it preferred that a total gun ban be made permanent. — RSJ/LBG, GMANews.TV