Police and Marine troopers are now hunting down two men believed to be behind the murder of a reelected town councilor here, the second elected official killed by gunmen in the province since May 9 elections.
Chief Insp. Roel Villarin, South Upi police chief,
identified the victim as incumbent town Councilor Warlito Pinuela, 52, of
Barangay Timanan.
Police said Pinuela, a former police officer before joining
local politics, was standing in front of his home in Barangay Timanan when two
men riding on a motorbike arrived and without provocation opened fire on the
reelected official at about 8 p.m. Friday.
Pinuela died from multiple gunshot wounds in various parts
of his body. The suspects fled on the same motorbike.
Pinuela was reelected to his third term in May 9 local
polls. Responding cops recovered empty shells for cal. 45 pistol.
Requesting anonymity, his relatives claimed he has been
receiving death threats from still unidentified men after his reelection.
They were convinced his death was election related. He
belonged to the ruling Liberal Party.
About a week ago, two farmers were separately killed in the
villages of Bongo and Kigan, also in South Upi. Both were campaigners of one of
the mayoral candidates in town.
On May 16, unidentified gunmen killed Tito Balinto, Barangay
Kigan chairperson and his aide, only identified as Sambren.
On May 2, unidentified armed men ambushed another village
official of South Upi, killing him on the spot and his two aides.
The fatalities, Perfecto Travilla, chairman of Barangay
Pandan, and his bodyguards, Alex Dumaga, and Jason Mundo, were riding a jeepney
en route to the town proper of South Upi when gunmen opened fire, killing them
on the spot.
Pinuela was the second elected town councilor in Maguindanao
gunned down after the May 9 elections.
Town Councilor Hadie Malaguial of Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao
was also killed by unidentified gunmen in his home in Barangay Poblacion. His
wife claimed it was election related.
On April 14, South Upi Vice Mayor Remegio Sioswon, then running
for mayor, survived a road side bombing in Barangay Pandan. He belonged to
presumptive President Rody Duterte's PDP-Laban party.
Police said joint police and Philippine Marines have been
searching for the suspect whose identities were revealed by several witnesses.
Members of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 7 (MBLT-7) have
established more checkpoints along major streets in South Upi.
Residents also urged the police to help put a stop to the
series of killings that they believed were carried out by partisan armed groups.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=889797
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