ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 18, 2013) – Four masked gunmen killed two lumberjacks in an attack in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, police said on Monday.
Police identified the victims as Christopher Tagayan and Rodulfo Clarin were shot in the village of Dongos in the town of San Pablo.
The two were sawing coconut lumber when the gunmen, clad in military uniform, attacked them without any warning, said Inspector Ariel Huesca, the regional police spokesman.
“We are still investigating the motive of the killings and who were behind it,” he said.
He said police investigators recovered at 12 empty shells of M16 automatic rifles from the scene of the attack and that the gunmen also took the victims’ chainsaws.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack and police would not say whether the killings were perpetrated by rebels, or whether the twin murders were connected to family feud or clan war.
Communist and Muslim rebels, including para-military men are actively operating in the western Mindanao province of Zamboanga del Sur. (Mindanao Examiner)
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