Buenavista mayoralty candidate Atty. Rio Cabarobias was left unscathed after he was ambushed by still unidentified gunmen along the national highway in Getafe town at past 1 p.m. on Monday.
Cabarobias was unharmed as he was able to immediately alight his vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner, during the attack, said SPO1 Rowel Lagura of the Getafe Police Station.
His driver Conrado Aniasco however died due to multiple gunshot wounds.
“Pagkahitabo, naka dagan man siya [Cabarobias], nakanaug dayon sa sakyanan,” said Lagura.
According to Lagura, the assailants were not able to go after Cabarobias as there were workers at a construction area nearby.
“Timing pod pagkahitabo kay naay nag construct ba. Di man gud makita ang area so nagtuo ang shooter nga way taw. So pag pusil nila, namarog man ang mga taw, wa nalang pod sila namalik,” he added.
Investigators meanwhile have yet to identify the motive behind the daylight gun attack.
“Nag-sige pa mi og verify kung kanong kaso ni Atty. Cabarobias og election-related ba ni o bahin ba sa iyang trabaho kay kini si Atty. Cabarobias naa pod ni gipanghawiran nga kaso,” said Lagura.
The ambushed mayoralty bet is lined up under the Padayon Bol-anon coalition led by Rep. Rene Relampagos and Rep. Art Yap who are running for vice governor and governor, respectively.
Cabarobias was the subject of an election protest filed by incumbent Mayor Atty. Dave Duallo who is also running for the top municipal post.
The protest questioned the legitimacy of Cabarobias’ Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA) which was issued by Rep. Rene Relampagos.
However, the complaint was dismissed by the Commission on Elections en banc which ruled that Relampagos was allowed to issue a CONA for the entire province.
Duallo who was elected vice mayor in 2016 succeeded Mayor Ronald “Sampol” Tirol who was shot dead inside a cockpit arena in Buenavista last year.