La Union Vice Mayor, aide shot dead; Mayor wounded in ambush

FILE: Vice Mayor Al-fred Concepcion of Balaoan town in La Union (Photo: Municipality of Balaoan, province of La Union/Website)

The vice mayor of Balaoan town in La Union and his aide was killed, while his daughter, the mayor of the town, was injured after they were ambushed by unknown assailants on Wednesday, November 14.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Director General Oscar Albayalde, in a press conference, said Vice Mayor Al-fred Concepcion and his aide, Michael Ulep, succumbed to gunshot wounds when their two-car convoy was ambushed by unidentified armed men along the Banlaon Luna road in Barangay Antonio at 8:22 this morning.

Concepcion and Ulep were both declared both on arrival at a local hospital, while Balaoan Mayor Aleli Concepcion, who was also in the convoy, survived the ambush and is now receiving treatment.

The PNP chief said an all-points bulletin has been raised to all municipal police stations to possibly intercept the perpetrators behind the attack. He added that additional security was also provided to the younger Concepcion.

“As we speak, the Provincial Mobile Force Company and SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) of La Union are leading massive dragnet operations in the towns of Bangar, Sudipen, Bacnotan, Santol and San Juan all in La Union,” Albayalde said.

The attack happened a month after national and local bets filed their certificates of candidacies (COC) for the upcoming midterm elections. The two Concepcions were seeking re-election in the 2019 polls.

The suspects and their motives are still unknown, but Albayalde said he already directed Regional Director of PRO-1, Chief Superintendent Romulo Sapitula to provide all possible assistance to the Concepcion family as he assures them of the “availability of PNP resources personnel for a speedy and thorough investigation of this incident.”

“I am confident that we will eventually get to the bottom of this case and the proverbial long arm of the law will catch up with the perpetrators,” the top cop noted.

The Palace, for its part, expressed its condolences to the victims’ families, saying it will pursue and prosecute the people behind the killing.

The vice mayor’s death came after Sudipen town Mayor Alexander Buquing of La Union was killed in an ambush in October as he was on his way home.