Monday, September 25, 2017

PSG officer dead in Malacañang Park shooting

MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATE 3 – 1:32 p.m.)The commander of the Presidential Security Group said that an officer of the unit had died in a shooting incident in Malacañang Park Tuesday morning.

Brigadier General Lope Dagoy said Major Harim Gonzaga’s wife found him dad inside his quarters from a gunshot to the chest.

He added the gun used was the officer’s own .45 caliber pistol.

The incident happened around 9:20 a.m. President Rodrigo Duterte’s official residence, Bahay ng Pagbabago, is also located at Malacañang Park, which is right across the Pasig River from Malacañang Palace.

There were conflicting messages from the Palace on Duterte’s whereabouts, however. He spent the weekend in Davao City and was not seen in public on Monday. He was due to attend some events in Manila on Tuesday evening.

One Palace official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Duterte was not there at the time.

However, presidential spokesman, Ernesto Abella, could not confirm where Duterte was.

He said it was too soon to comment on the incident.

“It’s being investigated and the nature of the situation needs to be clarified,” Abella told a regular news briefing.

“Let this be sufficient at this stage,” he said.

Asked if the Palace was concerned, Abella said: “Of course it’s a matter of concern but we need to clarify what it’s all about.”

Duterte is notoriously unpredictable and often causes confusion with his schedules and time-keeping. Every week he spends long weekends in Davao City, starting on Friday or even earlier.
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