Death squad attacks government doctor

DAVAO’S SWINE FLU AWARENESS CAMPAIGNER AMBUSHED By ROGER M. BALANZA

 

A government doctor in the Davao Region in Southern Philippines leading the public awareness campaign on swine flu was shot dead while driving home Wednesday night by masked gunmen aboard a motorcycle.

Dr. Bong Penera, chief epidemiologist of the Department of Health (DOH) in Region 11 was driving his Honda Civic car with a daughter aboard when waylaid by the gunmen in Cabantian, Buhangin, Davao City. His daughter was wounded in the attack a few hundred meters away from his home.

Dr. Penera had fetched his daughter from school after appearing at a forum on swine flu in a village, when he was ambushed at around 6:30 PM.

Buhangin Police precinct chief Inspector Antonio Alberio said police have yet to get leads on the ambush of Peñera and his 15-year-old daughter.

Police said Penera spotted the gunmen near a juncture a few meters from the ambush site, pushed on the accelerator but rammed his car on the rear of a passenger jeep. The gunmen then pumped bullets into the victim hitting him in the different parts of the body.

The frightened passenger jeep driver sped up ahead with the car in tow, after its bumper got snagged into the back of the jeep. The driver stopped only after the gunmen fled the scene on a motorcycle.