Mayor or Urbiztondo, Pangasinan shot to death

Mayor Ernesto Balolong of Urbiztondo town

Unidentified suspects shot dead the controversial mayor of Urbiztondo, Pangasinan Saturday morning, June 7, while inspecting a venue for the celebration of his 25th wedding anniversary and the wedding of his son.

Recently the victim Mayor Ernesto Balolong sought additional police security due to alleged threats to his life.

Mayor Ernesto Balolong, a Liberal party member, was in the thick of preparations for the wedding of his son, Councilor Volter Balolong, when the assassins peppered him with bullets in front of a supermarket located near his residence.

Initial police reports said one of his police escorts and a civilian were also killed in the incident while a supermarket employee and a bystander were wounded by stray bullets.

The gunmen alighted from a black Toyota Innova, and had calmly approached the mayor before they opened fire, according to a witness.

The witness said the slain mayor managed to scamper away but he was felled by another shot. One of the gunmen approached Balolong and opened fire at the mayor at point blank range.

Balolong Jr. and PO1 Eliseo Umanday were the apparent targets of the attack, but Edmund Meneses, a supermarket electrician, was caught in the barrage of the bullets.

The attack also injured Jose Vigilia, an employee of the CSI Supermarket, and Rogelio Esguerra, a taho (soy drink) vendor.

Balolong was immediately taken to the Elguira General Hospital in San Carlos City. But Dr. Samuel Elguira, hospital owner, said that Balolong was already dead when he arrived in the hospital at about 9:55 a.m.

“He had 27 gunshot wounds, in his chest and his back,” a doctor at the hospital where was brought said.


In 2012, the National Bureau of Investigation raided his house on Rizal Street in the town proper and confiscated high-powered firearms and ammunitions.

He got off the hook, however, after he was able to prove that the cache of firearms were all licensed. In late 2013, NBI agents conducted another raid on his house after a self-confessed gunman Otto Guialaludin, who was Balolong’s former bodyguard, admitted he was behind 3 high-profile killings: the gun-slaying of the former Lingayen City Vice Mayor Ramon Arcinue and his wife; PAO lawyer Dante Untalan and Pasibe-East school principal Herminigildo Sabangan. The suspect allegedly confessed to being Balolong’s henchman.

Recovered were 21 firearms, including M-16 and M-14 rifles.

He was arrested but he posted bail of P160,000 after he was initially charged with tampering with the serial numbers of the firearms.

In April 2014, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan ‘s Committee on Good Government and Accountability of Public Officers recommended his suspension for 60 days due to an administrative case for grave misconduct and abuse of authority, among others.

This was the second time the provincial council sought his suspension. In August 2012, he was also meted with another suspension in connection with the alleged illegal withdrawal of funds from a loan obtained from the Philippine National Bank. Malacañang however set aside the suspension.

Balolong said the charges against him were all politically-motivated.