A former mayor from the unrest-ridden south of the nation was among the three victims of a shooting during a university graduation ceremony on Sunday in the capital area of the Philippines, according to authorities.
Remus Medina, the local police commander of Quezon City, said the incident seemed to be an assassination of Rose Furigay, the former mayor of the southern Lamitan city.
According to Medina, the suspect was currently being questioned in custody after being wounded in a shootout with a campus security guard and being apprehended after a car chase.
He was discovered carrying two pistols, and Medina added, “He looked like he was a determined assassin.”
Quezon is a part of the 16-city metropolitan area that makes up the capital city of Manila, which is home to more than 13 million people.
According to Medina, Furigay was shot as she prepared to attend her daughter’s graduation from the Ateneo de Manila University’s top law school.
The suspect, who had no family members present at the graduation, was also a local of the pro-Islamist State extremist organization Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Lamitan city in Basilan province.
A school security guard and an unidentified male were the two additional victims, according to the police.
Following the tragedy, Ateneo canceled the graduation ceremony.
Shootings occur infrequently in the country of Southeast Asia, where gun owners need licenses to carry their weapons in public. In the Philippines, private security guards frequently carry handguns or shotguns, and it is usual to see firearms in workplaces, shopping centers, banks, restaurants, and even schools.
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued a statement in which he said that “we commit our law enforcement forces to thoroughly and promptly investigate these crimes and bring all implicated to justice.”
