PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / July 16, 2013) – Motorcycle gunmen shot dead a village official in an attack Tuesday in Pagadian City in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, police said.
Police said Eliseo Mituda, 49, a member of Dumagoc village council, was shot several times near the village of Santa Lucia. Mituda was driving his motorcycle with Eduardo Lesmoras, 51, when gunmen attacked him.
Mituda just came from his house and was to meet a friend when the shooting occurred. The victim was rushed to hospital, but died along the way, police said.
Police recovered four bullet casings fired from .45-caliber pistols from the area where Mituda was shot.
Police did not say whether Lesmoras was wounded or not in the shooting or if he had identified the assailants.
The killing occurred ahead of village polls set on October this year. Police are investigating the motive of the murder, but gun attacks are a common occurrence in Pagadian City where hired killers are actively operating. (Mindanao Examiner)
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