Hired guns kill phone repairman in Cotabato

COTABATO City, Philippines - Motorcycle-riding gunmen shot dead a mobile phone repairman in a daring attack a hundred meters away from the city's main police precinct on Monday.

Senior Superintendent Rolen Balquin, director of the Cotabato City police, said Jessie Lustre, 38, died on the spot from gunshot wounds in different parts of his body.

Lustre was inside his roadside shop when one of the two motorcycle-rding men approached and repeatedly shot him with a .45 pistol.

The suspect escaped towards a busy intersection, where their motorcycle crashed and stalled, but still managed to restart its engine and sped away.

Balquin said investigators are still trying to determine identities of the suspects and their motive for the attack.

Local officials were convinced the suspects are hired killers.

Guns-for-hire have been operating in the city with impunity for some three years now, killing more than 200 people.