Four armed men shot and killed a barangay chairman and his security escort at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday in upland Brgy. Cruz, Calatrava, Negros Occidental.
The two victims, identified as Cruz barangay chairman Rodolfo Antenero, 59, and his security escort, Raymond Sabilla, a former member of the Philippine Marine Corps, succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds, with fatal injuries in the head, Senior Inspector Mark Angelo Junco, Calatrava police chief, said yesterday.
Police investigations show that Antenero and Sabilla were on their way to the Cruz barangay poblacion, when they were waylaid and shot by the four suspects reportedly armed with a .45 caliber pistol and a shotgun.
Both died on the spot, Junco said.
Four empty shells and a slug of a .45 caliber pistol and pellets of a shotgun were recovered at the scene by Calatrava policemen.
Before the killings, Junco said Antenero had received death threats.
He added that there were witnesses to the shooting incident, but they are uncooperative.
Junco said there had been complaints against Antenero, in relation to land conflict, that had been recorded in the police blotter.
Police probers are looking into two angles in the killing of Antenero and Sabilla which are personal grudges, or land conflict.
This incident might be insurgency related. Historically, there have been a number of encounters with Maoist New People's Army elements in the remote barangays of Calatrava.
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