A mass shooting occurred inside the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City on July 24, 2022, leaving three people dead and two others injured.
It was just another day in Quezon City. A graduation ceremony was scheduled at the Ateneo School of Law of the Ateneo de Manila University.
However, in just an hour, former Lamitan mayor Rose Furigay, her aide, Victor George Capistrano, and Aeteno security guard Jeneven Bandiala would lose their lives in a shooting incident.
All three of the victims were announced dead on arrival. Furigay’s 25-year-old daughter, Hannah, was grievously injured and is currently in the emergency room of the QMMC undergoing treatment. An unidentified bystander was also wounded, but their identity has not been released to the public.
The assailant was identified as Chao-Tiao Yumol, a physician and drug store owner, who was caught while trying to run away.
Ateneo De Manila University Shooting Incident Victims
The three people who lost their lives in the shootings were Rose Furigay, Victor George Capistrano, and Jeneven Bandiala, and the two injured were Hannah Furigay and an unknown bystander.
Rose, full name Rosita, Furigay was the former mayor of Lamitan City. She had served as mayor from 2013 to 2022 and stepped down because she wanted to spend more time with her family.
Her husband, Roderick Furigay, was the mayor of Lamitan before she replaced him. He had been the mayor since 2004 and had resumed office as the mayor when she stepped down.
Furigay was known to many as the “Mother of Lamitan City” and was much respected by her constituents for her motherly approach to governing the city and addressing the various issues her people faced, chiefly illegal drugs.
Furigay was attending the Ateneo School of law’s graduation ceremony as her daughter Hannah was set to graduate that day. Sources said that she had personally attended the ceremony not only to celebrate the moment with her daughter but also to share the experience of listening to the Chief Justice of the Supreme court with her daughter, who wanted to be a lawyer in the future.
Victor George Capistrano was Rose Furigay’s long-time aide and executive assistant. He had served the Lamitan mayor for many years and was right by her side when they were all attacked and killed.
Jeneven Bandiola was a security guard who worked at the Ateneo de Manila University. He was caught in the crossfire when the assailant shot at the former Manila mayor.
While homicide rates are high in the Philipines, school and mass shootings are not. However, politically motivated crimes are prevalent, and this is undoubtedly one of them.
Who Shot Former Lamitan Mayor, Victor George Capistrano And Jeneven Bandiala
The culprit of the shooting has been revealed as Dr. Chao-Tiao Yumol.
Yumol is a physician and a resident of Lamitan City, Basilan. According to the authorities, his main target was the former Lamitan mayor Rose Furigay, while everyone else was casualties of the intended target’s shooting.
Yumol’s motivations are said to be tied to a cease and desist order that was issued to Yumol’s clinic in 2018. The doctor blamed it on the Furigays, especially Rose, the mayor at that time.
Already politically involved with parties directly opposed to what Furigay represented, Yumol began to come up with a conspiracy that Furigay closed his clinic to funnel in illegal drugs. He began to spread this conspiracy online and was arrested for 26 counts of cybercrime in 2019.
He was always vocal about his dislike of Furigay, but sadly, he took the matter into his own hands and committed an act that has caused ripples all over Filipino media.
Citizens Mourn Ateneo De Manila Shooting Victims
Following the shooting news, people took to social media to mourn the victims and voice their concerns about gun violence and politically inspired terrorism.
After looking into Yumol’s profile, it became abundantly clear that committing the act that he did was not a far-off conclusion. He was vehemently misogynistic and spent much of his online activity bullying and terrorizing anyone who was differently aligned with him politically.
A fanatic supporter of the current president Bongbong Marcos and the Marcos family, many in the media see him as emblematic of everything wrong with Marcos and his supporters.