Isabela mayor's barangay affairs aide shot dead

ILAGAN, Isabela – A senior aide of a mayor of a southwestern town here was shot dead while on his way home from work last Tuesday night, police said.

Police said the victim, Freddie Manuel, a former three-term chairman of Barangay Pabel in Ramon town and erstwhile head of the town’s Liga ng mga Barangay, was the executive assistant for barangay affairs of Ramon Mayor Wilfredo Tabag.

Senior Inspector Rogelio Taliping, Ramon police chief, said Manuel was on his way home aboard a service vehicle when one of two motorcycle-riding men shot him in the head.

Tabag ruled out politics in Manuel’s killing, saying that the victim earlier had told him that he had received death threats from someone who had a personal grudge against him.

This is the third killing of an incumbent or former barangay official in Cagayan Valley since last month.  

At least 12 village chiefs have been killed throughout the region in less than two years.