A police official on Sunday said that the vice mayor of Milagros town who was wounded in an ambush last February 3 in Masbate province has died Saturday evening in a Makati hospital.

Senior Inspector Vincent Eliot Vazques of Milagros police said Vice-Mayor Antonio de Jesus died 9 p.m. Saturday in a private hospital in Makati City.

Vazquez said he still does not know when the remains of de Jesus would be returned to Masbate.

De Jesus was wounded while his bodyguard in the ambush by unidentified men.

Masbate police said de Jesus was returning from Barangay Dayao in Mandaon town onboard a motorcycle with three security escorts when bullets rained on them in Barangay Matiporon in Milagros town.

De Jesus was reportedly hit on the back and hand. One of his bodyguards, identified as Maya Arinavo, however was killed instantly.

One of the suspects in the ambush was arrested immediately and has been charged with murder.

Allies of de Jesus have said politics may be behind the ambush of the vice mayor. With reports from Jose Carretero, ABS-CBN Bicol