Activist’s kin could be target of attack – cops

MANILA, Philippines - Police are looking into the possibility that an anti-mining activist slain in an ambush in a Nueva Vizcaya-Quirino border village last Friday was not the target of the attack but his cousin-in-law, who was killed, too.

Chief Superintendent Rodrigo de Gracia, Cagayan Valley police director, said based on initial information, Randy Domingo, alias Randy Nabayay, was apparently the target of the attack and not anti-mining advocate Sheryl Ananayo-Puguon, a chemical engineer.

“It appears that business rivalry and power play were the motive in the attack and Sheryl was merely a ‘coincidence victim,’” De Gracia told The STAR. 

Senior Superintendent Domingo Lucas, Quirino police director, said Domingo had “many brushes with the law” and had arrest warrants for murder and robbery.

However, some groups suspect that Ananayo-Puguon was really the target because of her anti-mining stance. She belonged to a group opposed to the mining project of OceanaGold Corp. in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Charlie Lagasca, Raymund Catindig