3 LP leaders slain in Zambo Norte

DIPOLOG CITY, Philippines – Three local leaders of the Liberal Party (LP) in Zamboanga del Norte, including a candidate for town councilor and a barangay chairman, were shot dead in separate incidents last week, police said.

Police reports reaching Camp Hamac here identified the victims as Asad Hassan, 46, a council aspirant in Sibuco town; Emmanuel Galon, 53, chairman of Barangay Bubongan in Labason town; and Michael Laliyah, 33, LP coordinator in Sibuco and a nephew of Ayub Pla, a candidate for provincial board member in the third congressional district.

Provincial LP officials, led by Berto Uy, Senen Angeles and Isagani Amatong, party candidates for governor, vice governor and second district congressman, respectively, condemned the killings which they believe are “politically motivated.”

They appealed to President Aquino to order local police authorities to conduct an immediate investigation into the killings.

Laliyah, according to Pla, was roused from sleep when he heard someone calling out for him. When he opened the window, unidentified men fired at him with shotguns, killing him on the spot.

Hassan was talking to some residents near the market in Sibuco town when a man in a black jacket approached him, pulled out a handgun and shot him in the neck. He died at the Labason District Hospital.

Galon, meanwhile, was on his way home after visiting some residents when he was gunned down. He died before he could be rushed to the municipal hospital.