ZAMBOANGA CITY – A protestant pastor and his father were killed in an ambush in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Norte, police said.
Police said four other people were wounded in the October 22 attack which occurred in the village of Nasibac in Leon Postigo town. It said masked gunmen opened fire on the group of Pastor Ramil Ansong, 29, and his 50-year old father, Jose, killing both of them.
The four, including the pastor’s mother, Rosaria, managed to escape from the attackers despite their wounds.
Police said the young Ansong was a pastor at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath.
Inspector Dahlan Samuddin, a regional police spokesman, said the victims were heading to the town’s center to collect government pension on October 23 when gunmen attacked them from the bushes.
He said policemen recovered bullet casings of M16 and M1rifles in the area. “We are still investigating the motive of the attack and those involved in the murders,” Samuddin said.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack and the Seventh Day Adventist Church has not release any statement about the killing of its pastor. (Mindanao Examiner)
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