San Andres police authorities have yet to pinpoint those responsible for the killing of former Asgad barangay captain Leah Vallespin last Monday night, Feb. 8, 2021, while she was riding her motorcycle on her way home.
According to sketchy reports, Vallespin was bound for Asgad after a day’s work at Catanduanes Doctors Hospital Inc. (CDHI) in Virac, where she was a collector of unsettled accounts, when she was shot at the back by unidentified, motorcycle-riding suspects who had apparently tailed her.
A concerned citizen informed the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) rescue personnel after seeing a motorcycle and its driver slumped at the side of the national highway between Codon and Bislig near Kilometer 27.
Shortly after they arrived at about 7 P.M., the rescue personnel noticed empty shells from a Cal. 45 pistol at the scene, prompting them to call the police.
The Catanduanes police has yet to release its official report on the shooting incident as of Tuesday morning.
Unconfirmed reports claim that Vallespin, who was once a member of the leftist group Bayan Muna, was elected as barangay captain of Asgad in 2013.
During her term, she allegedly had a falling out with fellow Bayan Muna members and was removed.
Five years ago, information supplied by then Chairman Vallespin led to a police raid at the house of Randy Sumayang, who headed the Anak Pawis cause-oriented group in Catanduanes, a reliable source said.
A criminal charge for illegal possession of firearm and ammunition was filed against Sumayang after the court-ordered search on Feb. 3, 2015 turned up an improvised shotgun with chamber load, five pieces of shotgun ammunition, a Cal. 45 bullet and three pieces of fired Cal. 22 cartridges in his possession.
In the past, Sumayang, as chairman of Anak Pawis, frequently led protest rallies of cause-oriented groups like Makabayan, Bayan Muna, and ABAKA.
In one instance, according to a press statement of the Nerissa San Juan Command of the New People’s Army, army intelligence operatives allegedly tried to kill Randy and his father, Rodrigo, in Asgad on June 3, 2008.
In August 2017, Sumayang was meted a six-year prison term and a P10,000.00 fine after pleading guilty to the crime.
Three months later, his 15-year old daughter killed herself in the family residence using a handgun of unknown caliber after Sumayang reportedly scolded her.
Policemen who arrived at the scene found that the cadaver of the victim had already been cleaned. Both her parents were not around, the report stated, while the firearm allegedly used in the incident was not recovered.