Town councilor shot dead

BACOLOD City – An incumbent councilor in Moises Padilla town in Negros Occidental who is running for his last 3-year term was shot dead by armed suspects at around 6 a.m. on March 31 2019 at his residence in Barangay Inolingan.

Councilor Jolomar Hilario was said to be asleep when three truckloads of armed men ransacked his house, barged into his room, and peppered him with bullets.

Witnesses also claimed that suspects shouted “Mabuhay ang NPA” before withdrawing.

Hilario is the first casualty in Negros Occidental after the start of the campaign for local candidates here on March 29, 2019.

His wife Michelle, the incumbent barangay captain, and their children were made to drop to the floor when the armed men barged inside the victim’s room. They were unharmed.

Hilario, 46, died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds all over his face and body.

The victim was a former barangay captain of Inolingan before he ran for councilor in 2013. He was also elected Association of Barangay Captains president.

He was a candidate in the slate of Mayor Magdaleno Peña who is also seeking re-election.