Photograph aids Philippine arrests

The photograph led to the arrest of two people in connection with Dagsa’s killing [AFP/HO/Dagsa Family]

A murdered Philippine politician photographed his killer just moments before he was shot dead, with the photograph leading to the arrest of his suspected killer and another man.

The photograph, which clearly shows a man aiming a gun from behind the victim’s smiling family members, ran on the front page of The Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper on Tuesday.

Reynaldo Dagsa, a councillor in a Manila suburb, was shot moments after taking the photograph and died of his wounds before he reached hospital.

“While he was taking the picture of his family on New Year’s Day, the killer appeared and he inadvertently took the picture of the killer with the gun aimed at him,” Jude Santos, a local police chief, was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

Suspects arrested

Santos said the main suspect was a car thief who was out on bail and likely sought revenge against Dagsa for ordering his arrest last year.

The alleged killer is shown in the photograph wearing a reversed baseball cap just behind Dagsa’s daughter, wife and mother-in-law, who were apparently unaware of the alleged assailant’s presence.

A man who police said was an accomplice to the crime is also seen in the photograph, looking at the man about to fire the pistol.

Dagsa’s family said they did not hear the pistol going off because New Year’s firecrackers were exploding all around them. They only saw Dagsa falling to the ground after he was hit.