Wilben Mayor, Philippine national police spokesman

China’s consul general in the Philippines’ second biggest city was wounded and two of his staff members were killed on Wednesday during a lunchtime gun attack at a restaurant, police said.

Two other Chinese at the lunch, a consular officer and her husband, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the shootings, national police spokesman Wilben Mayor told AFP.

Officers retrieved a semi-automatic .45 Colt pistol and three bullet shells from the scene, he added.

Police said the attack occurred at 1:30 p.m. (0530 GMT) at Lighthouse, a popular restaurant that serves Filipino food in Cebu, the trading capital of the central Philippines and the nation’s second biggest city.

Staff at the upmarket restaurant told AFP a group of nine people had gathered in a private room to celebrate the birthday of the consul general, Song Ronghua. Restaurant cashier Remedios Rivalde, 27, said she was at work at the cash register outside of the function room when she heard gunshots.

“I dived under the counter and covered my ears. Then there were other shots that followed,” Rivalde said by phone.

She said the reservation had been made shortly before lunch for the consul general’s birthday, and the group had ordered a banquet that included popular local delicacies such as tuna head, shrimps and roasted pork.

“They ordered a lot of food, but no liquor,” she said. Song was shot in the neck, but his injuries were not believed to be life threatening and he was in a stable condition in hospital, regional police chief Tom Banas said.

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