Kerwin Espinosa, a mayoral candidate in Albuera, Leyte, is calling the recent shooting at his campaign event a politically motivated attack. He pointed to connections between his opponent and powerful political figures, including Congressman Richard Gomez and Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres, to support his claim.
“This is clearly political,” Espinosa stated, referencing rival candidate Vince Rama, who is married to Karen Torres—Mayor Lucy Torres’ sister and Congressman Gomez’s sister-in-law.
GMA Integrated News reached out to Rama for comment, but he was not at his campaign headquarters. A supporter of Rama, however, reported that their camp was also targeted when a Molotov cocktail was allegedly thrown at their headquarters earlier.
Seven Ormoc police officers have been tagged as persons of interest in Espinosa’s shooting. As part of the investigation, the Philippine National Police relieved Ormoc Police Chief Colonel Reydante Ariza and placed the officers in restrictive custody. Their firearms have also been turned over for paraffin testing.
PNP Eastern Visayas operations chief Colonel Dennis Llevore will temporarily take over Ariza’s post starting Monday.
Meanwhile, Richard Gomez dismissed the incident as a hoax. He described it as a poorly executed “ambush-me” ploy and accused Espinosa of staging the shooting for political gain.
“I’m still gathering the full details, but I believe it was scripted,” Gomez said, questioning the legitimacy of Espinosa’s claims.