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Sunday, December 22, 2013

Airport attack leaves mayor, 3 others dead

http://www.solarnews.ph/news/metro/2013/12/21/airport-attack-leaves-mayor-3-others-dead#.UrgWc_s-eWM


Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)

By Triciah Terada, Kimberly Go, and Jong Cadion

MANAILA, PHILIPPINES (SOLAR NEWS Friday December 20, 2013) - A gun attack left four people dead and five injured at Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at past 11 am Friday.

A witness says the attack came out of nowhere.

NAIA General Manager Jose Honrado says Mayor Ukol Talumpa of Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur, his wife, Leah Talumpa, and his nephew Salipudin Talumpa died before reaching the hospital.

An 18-month old boy, Philip Estuesta was also killed.


Based on the initial investigation, Honrado says Mayor Talumpa and his wife
MAYOR UKOL TALUMPA (Photo by JC)
arrived in Manila from Zamboanga at around 9 o'clock.

His party was waiting at Bay 1 of Terminal 3, while his bodyguards were claiming their guns from the firearms depository area, when a gunman opened fire at close range.

The gunman escaped with his assistant on board a motorcycle.

Chief Supt. Christopher Laxa, the National Capital Region Police Office's Deputy Director for Operations, said security authorities are verifying preliminary information to the effect that the assailants may have been garbed in police uniforms.

About 17 bullet shells and a magazine of a caliber .45 pistol were found scattered in the area.

Four other civilians were injured and brought to the Philippine Air Force General Hospital.

They were then airlifted to East Avenue Medical Center.

Honrado declined to identify the names of the other victims, saying that the case is still under investigation.

He says there were no CCTV cameras in operation where the incident occurred.

Director Carmelo Valmoria, chief of the NCRPO, says pursuing police officers at the scene could not open fire at the gunman because of the possibility of wounding civilians who had gathered around the commotion.

NAIA officials are considering a move to ramp up airport security after the incident, especially during the holiday season and increased number of people at the airport complex.

Valmoria says a special investigation task group to be headed by Senior Superintendent Billy Beltran will take up the case.

Investigators are looking into the possibility that the killing is connected to previous assassination attempts on Mayor Talumpa.

All five female victims have been transferred to East Ave Medical Center by Friday afternoon.

As of 5 o'clock, all were in stable but serious condition.

Dr. Rolando Cortez, Department of Health Assistant Secretary who is also the medical center's chief, says the victims were all conscious and talking.

The victims were airlifted from Villamor Airbase and brought initially to V. Luna Medical Center, and then onward to the Emergency Department and Trauma Complex at East Avenue Medical.

The five victims are 28-year old Remayda Talumpa, three-year old Dianna Uy, 26-year old Rosda Lindaga, 58-year old Amalia Lirazan, and her 28-year old daughter Mary Ann Lirazan.

Three-year old Dianna sustained the most serious injury after being shot in the head.

Dr. Cortez says Dianna is conscious and coherent, which is a good sign.

Remayda Talumpa sustained multiple injuries including a gunshot wound just below her nose or above her lip.

The bullet exited her jaw and scraped her arm.

Rosda Lindaga was shot on the left side of her chest and the bullet exited on the right side.

The eldest victim, Mary Ann Lirazan, suffered gunshot wounds on the chest and right forearm. She is showing signs of hematoma or bleeding in the right eye.

Her daughter, Mary Ann Lirazan, was shot on the left arm, which sustained a fracture.

Mary Ann, however, is requesting to be discharged from hospital.

But Cortez says the hospital is not inclined to release any of the patients Friday tonight.

The Provincial Government of Zamboanga del Sur condemned "to the highest level" the killing of Mayor Talumpa, Provincial Information Officer Leo Santillan said Friday afternoon.

Santillan said that the death of Mayor Talumpa is a great loss to the leadership of Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) in Labangan Town.

Mayor Talumpa was a former Vice Mayor at Labangan and was elected as Mayor last May 2013 elections against Mayor Wilson "Kitti" Nandang of the Liberal party.

From Funeraria Victoria in Pasay City, the remains of most of the victims are to be brought to a still undisclosed subdivision in Las Piñas City.

Because routine autopsies are not acceptable under Muslim tradition, the remains will be flown to Pagadian at 4 am Saturday and laid to rest within 24 hours in Labangan town.

Police Officer 2 Felipe Lirasan, who was supposed to fetch his mother, Amalia Lirasan, said he heard at least 15 gunshots while approaching the airport.

When he called his mother, he learned about the shooting at the arrival area. His niece, the 18-month old baby, was shot in the head and died instantly.

The remains of Mayor Talumpa, his wife Lea, and niece Salipudin will be brought to their residence in Las Piñas before being flown back later to Zamboanga.

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