A Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) was formed by the Pangasinan police following the slaying of Councilor Virgilio Caluza Jr., 42, of San Jacinto on September 1 in Barangay Imelda, San Jacinto.

SITG Caluza was formed by P/Colonel Redrico Maranan, police provincial director, a day after Caluza, a resident of Barangay Guebel, was gunned down by a lone suspect while he was sitting behind the steering wheel of his L300 van that stopped in front of a store, where his wife alighted to buy bottled water.

Caluza, on his second term as councilor of San Jacinto, sustained one gunshot wound on the left side of his head with the bullet exiting on the right side and through the right window of the vehicle.

He was rushed by relatives to the Medical Centrum in Dagupan City where he was declared dead on arrival.

The police theorized that the gunman and his cohort tailed the couple from their home and executed their plan when the victim and wife stopped in front of a store.

Witnesses said the gunman, who was wearing a face mask approached the van and shot him point blank with the use of a hand gun then walked away to board a waiting motorcycle driven by another person. 

 P/Capt. Oliver Baniqued, chief of police of San Jacinto, said they have already identified a person of interest. He said they are checking on all angles as motive of the slaying, including possible love triangle. 

The Philippine Councilors’ League (Pangasinan chapter) issued a statement condemning the slaying of Caluza and called on the police to exert all efforts to solve the killing so that justice can be given to the victim’s family.  

Councilor Aldrin Soriano of Mangaldan, secretary general of the PCL chapter, urged the authorities to do their utmost best to find the perpetrators behind the slaying. 

Caluza was the first elected public official in Pangasinan killed this year. (Leonardo Micua)

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