By Felipe V. Celino
ROXAS CITY, Capiz— A former broadcast journalist and sitting municipal administrator of Pilar, Capiz was shot dead Sunday afternoon in front of a hardware store in Brgy. Lawaan here.
John Heredia, 54, of San Jose Village Brgy. Tiza here was declared dead on arrival at Capiz Doctors’ Hospital minutes after he was shot by two riding-in-tandem suspects in front of Citi Hardware on Kilometer 3, Barangay Lawaan here.
This was confirmed by his wife Atty. Cris Heredia to the members of the media shortly after the incident.
She said her husband received death threats days before the incident happened.
Pilar town Mayor Arnold Perez said he was saddened by the incident. He described Heredia as a good and active government worker and town administrator.
He also confirmed that Heredia received death threats from unknown personalities.
The mayor said he is hoping that the police will identify and arrest the perpetrators.
Investigation by the Roxas City police indicated that Heredia was about to board his car after buying paint and other items from the hardware store at around 2:20 pm Sunday when one of the suspects approached and repeatedly shot him on the head.
The suspect again shot the victim even as the latter already fell to the ground.
The gunman fled on board a motorcycle driven by a cohort.
Witnesses claimed hearing five gunfire volleys. They described the triggerman as 5 feet and 3 inches to 5 feet 4 inches tall. He wore a face mask and a gray hoodie jacket.
The other suspect, who acted as lookout and motorcycle driver, also wore a face mask.
Heredia is a former president of the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP)-Capiz and anchorman of the Abri-Aga television show over Fil-vision Alto Cable TV here.
He was also a newspaper reporter before he became administrator of Pilar town.