Incident Summary:
12/15/2008: On Monday afternoon, at 1315, the president of the Association of Barangay [Village] Captains (ABC) in Sto. Domingo Town and two others were killed and three village watchmen were wounded when five armed men shot them in San Francisco Village, Ramon Town. Police said Guillermo Bernardo, the town's ABC president and incumbent village chair of San Francisco; former San Francisco village chairman Dionicio Santos, 59; and his sister, Eva Santos-de Guzman, 52, were inspecting the construction of a chapel in their village when five men aboard a blue Mitsubishi Lancer arrived and fired at them with M-16 Armalite rifles. Santos and De Guzman died instantly and Bernardo died while being taken to a hospital for treatment. Their three companions, village watchmen Celso Aquino, Louie Flores and Lelet Reña, were wounded and taken to a hospital in Talavera Town for treatment.
Overview
GTD ID:
200812080010
When:
2008-12-15
Country:
Philippines
Region:
Southeast Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Isabela
City:
Ramon
Location Details:
At a chapel construction site in Sto. Domingo, Ramon.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Guillermo Bernardo |
Specific Description |
The president of the Association of Barangay [Village] Captains ABC) in Sto. Domingo Town |
Nationality of Target |
Philippines |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Property Damage |
Unknown |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Automatic Weapon |
Weapon Details |
M-16 Armalite rifles were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The available sources listed the dates for this attack from 12/08/2008 to 12/15/2008, so the majority casualty figures have been used in order to preserve stastical accuracy in the database. The available sources listed the the time for this incident as 1315 to 1330, and because no majority figures were reported, the source with the highest validity was used in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Unknown |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
5 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
3 Fatalities / 3 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
3 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
3 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
National Counterterrorism Center, "One Village Chief, Two Civilians Killed, One Paramilitary Member, Two People Wounded in Armed Attack in San Francisco, Pampanga, Philippines," Worldwide Incidents Tracking System, January 13, 2010. |
ABS-CBN News, "NEcija Town ABC Prexy, Two Others Killed in Shooting," http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/12/15/08/necija-town-abc-prexy-two-others-killed-shooting (December 15, 2008). |
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, "Ecija Village Chief, Two Others Killed," The Philippine Daily Inquirer, January 23, 2009. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties