Remate columnist shot dead

Authorities are still investigating the motive behind the killing. #Rematecolumnist #ambush

Jupiter Gonzales was declared dead on arrival at Arayat District Hospital. (Remate)

A columnist of tabloid Remate and his male companion was gunned down by unidentified suspects while traversing Olongapo-Gapan road in Arayat, Pampanga Sunday evening.

Initial investigation revealed that columnist Jupiter Gonzales and Christopher Tiongson were on board a Nissan Almera with plate number AQA 8441 when they were shot by unidentified assailants at around 10:30 p.m. The impact made their vehicle crash in a plant box beside the road.

Tiongson was killed on the spot while Gonzales was declared dead on arrival at Arayat District Hospital.

Authorities are still investigating the motive behind the killing.

Gonzales wrote a column for the same tabloid and was known for being a staunch critic of illegal gambling proliferating in local carnivals, or peryahan/pergalan in street parlance.