Priest cheats death in Laguna shooting attack

A Catholic priest cheated death when a man fired shots at his car in Calamba City on Wednesday.

Injured in the attack, Fr. Rey Urmeneta of the St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Calamba was rushed to a hospital.

A police report said the priest with his secretary were on their way to a meeting when the attack occurred at around 9:40am.

Urmeneta, a former police chaplain, suffered wounds to his left upper back and left arm, but in now in a stable condition.

Authorities said the suspect escaped on board motorcycle driven by another man towards unknown direction.

Urmeneta became the third victim of violent attacks against clerics in the span of six months.

In April, Fr. Mark Ventura of the Archdiocese of Tuguegaraio was shot dead shortly after celebrating Sunday Mass in Gattaran town, Cagayan.

On Dec. 4, Fr. Marcelito Paez of the San Jose diocese was also shot and killed by still unidentified men in Jaen, Nueva Ecija province.