Zamboanga del Sur cops looking for killers of San Fernando Councilor Donaire

Councilor Alfonso Donaire IV | San Fernando town website

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police officers in the province of Zamboanga del Sur are conducting a hot pursuit operation against the two unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen, who killed Councilor Alfonso Donaire IV, a southern Cebu town councilor, on the early morning of Saturday, February 23 in this Mindanao province.

According to the Police Regional Office in Zamboanga Peninsula (PRO-9) in a statement, the two assailants escaped on a motorcycle.

Donaire was shot dead inside his father’s house in Purok 2, Barangay Poblacion of Ramon Magsaysay town in Zamboanga del Sur around 6:30 a.m. 

“(The) Victim sustained gunshot wounds on different parts of his body which resulted to his death. Suspects fled to the direction of Molave Municipality, Zamboanga del Sur,” said the police in their statement.

Read more: Councilor of San Fernando, Cebu killed in Zamboanga del Sur

Initial investigation also showed that the driver of the getaway vehicle wore a face mask while the passenger, believed to be the gunman, wore a jacket and long pants. 

Three spent cases of a caliber .45 pistol and two spent cases of a 9 mm pistol were recovered from the crime scene.

Donaire’s remains now lie in his father’s house. 

Donaire is the fourth public official from San Fernando town in southern Cebu, who was killed since January this year.

Read more: San Fernando barangay captain shot dead in town’s Poblacion

The three others were former town Councilor John Arriesgado; incumbent town Councilor Rene Boy Dacalos; and the president of San Fernando’s Association of Barangay Councils, Ricardo Reluya.

Dacalos was killed on January 10. Six days later, unidentified assailants gunned down Arriesgado.

Read more: Bloody night in Talisay City claims 4 lives, including town mayor’s husband

Ricardo Reluya, his wife San Fernando Mayor Lakambini Reluya, and four others were ambushed last January 22 in Barangay Linao, Talisay City. 

Mayor Reluya, and two of her staff, survived the ambush, but her husband, Ricardo Reluya, and two others died in the attack. 

The two others, two who died in the ambush, were Allan Bayot, the driver of the van; and Ricky Montenora, San Fernando’s Local Economic and Investments officer.

Police in Cebu tagged Jerome Labitad and Felix Abacajan Jr. as the gunmen in the Talisay ambush, but the mastermind behind the ambush had remained unknown.

Due to the series of killings involving the town’s public officials, the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO -7) recommended to place San Fernando under the red category of the election watchlist areas (EWAs)./dbs