Batangas vice mayor hurt, bodyguard killed in ambush

The vice mayor of Talisay town in Batangas was wounded while his bodyguard was killed when they were ambushed Saturday morning. Initial investigation showed that Vice Mayor Florencio Manimtim Jr. was attending an interment of a relative at the Talisay Municipal Cemetery in Barangay Poblacion before noon when unidentified armed men attacked him, Police Officer Catherine Castillo of the Talisay town police told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. Manimtim sustained gunshot wounds and was rushed to a hospital for treatment. However, his bodyguard, Guillermo Macaraig, did not survive the ambush. Before becoming a vice mayor, Manimtim was the mayor of Talisay. Investigators are still at the crime scene gathering evidence as of posting time. The police are hoping to get plenty of witnesses in the shooting, since there was a number of people attending the burial when the incident took place. - TJD, GMANews.TV