PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / June 16, 2013) – Three people were killed in separate attacks in the Zamboanga Peninsula in southern Philippines, police said Sunday.
It said motorcycle gunmen shot and killed a former environmental official Rodolfo Balagot, 50, and wounded his companion Joel Cañales in the village of Magdaup in Zamboanga Sibugay’s Ipil town.
Police said the victims were traveling on a motorcycle when gunmen attacked them. The assailants escaped after the shooting.
In Sindangan town in Zamboanga del Norte province, gunmen also killed Romel Igot, 34.
The man was talking to his friends Bryan Capa, 20, and Francis Capa, 15, outside an Internet shop when the gunmen arrived on a motorcycle and without any provocation, shot Igot several times.
Igot, though severely wounded, still managed to run away, but he was chased by the attackers and finished him near a Catholic church.
Police recovered about a dozen empty bullet casings of .45-caliber pistol from the crime scene.
Police said in Bayog town in Zamboanga del Sur province, armed men also shot and killed Michael Alajeño, 29. It said the victim died instantly from the attack.
In Pagadian City also in the province, two gunmen shot and wounded Nilo Para, 20. The attackers fled in separate directions after the shooting.
Para was rushed to hospital. Police said the victim is wanted by authorities for rape and another case for physical injury. It was not immediately known whether the attack was connected to the criminal cases against Para.
Gun attacks and killings are a daily occurrence in the provinces and many of the cases remain unsolved. Hired killers operate unabated in Zamboanga Peninsula and authorities have failed to stop the rising crimes. (Mindanao Examiner)
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