Ilocos Sur municipal fire chief gunned down

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The fire chief of Magsingal town in Ilocos Sur has become the latest victim in the spate of mostly unsolved killings in the Ilocos region.

Senior Fire Officer 3 Teddy Fariñas, Magsingal fire chief, died while being rushed to the Metro Vigan Cooperative Hospital in Bantay town last Monday, police said.

Reports said Fariñas was headed home aboard his Toyota Corolla when he was shot at least three times in the chest in Barangay Barbarit, Magsingal town.

The Magsingal police vowed to fully investigate the killing, although local folk believe it could be another unsolved slaying in the province.

Earlier that day, another firefighter, Senior Fire Officer 1 Eleazar Narag, 43, was gunned down in Cagayan.

Narag, assigned at the Bureau of Fire Protection’s regional office in Tuguegarao City, was shot in the head with a .45-caliber pistol by two motorcycle-riding men just near the city fire department. – Artemio Dumlao, Charlie Lagasca