Ilocos Sur village chief killed; body found near Abra mayor's house

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – A village chief in Ilocos Sur was shot dead while a decomposing body with gunshot wounds was found near the house of an Abra mayor last week, authorities said.

Police said Salvador Tabangay, chairman of Barangay Cabigbigaan in Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur, was gunned down Saturday as he was leaving a cockpit arena in another village.

Tabangay had already boarded his motorcycle when the gunman pumped caliber .45 bullets into his head.

The assassin fired three more shots to ensure the kill and then just walked away, witnesses told police.

Although there is no conclusive finding yet, local political rivalry is being eyed as one of the possible angles in the killing.

Meanwhile, the decomposing body of an apparent victim of summary execution was found near the house of Mayor Edwin Crisologo of Tineg, Abra before dusk last Wednesday.

Abra policemen dug up the bullet-riddled body of Roy Gudao, 25, a resident of Tineg town, only three meters away from Crisologo’s house in Barangay Ubbog, Bangued, Abra’s capital town, said Superintendent Ramil Saculles, deputy provincial police director.

Saculles said they acted on a text message from an unknown sender about the decomposing body near the mayor’s residence.

Investigators said Gudao could have been killed four days earlier and buried in haste in the shallow grave.