Army sergeant shot dead

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Unidentified gunmen shot dead an Army sergeant and seriously wounded two others in an attack Tuesday night in a secluded village in Matalam town in North Cotabato.

The fatalities, Sgt. Jomar Desabilla, died on the spot from gunshot wounds in different parts of his body.

Desabilla, who belonged to a unit of the Eastern Mindanao Command in Davao City, was having a drinking spree with companions Rudy Cacayurin and Wilson Pagayon in Barangay Sarayon in Matalam when masked men arrived and shot them with .45 caliber pistols.

Cacayurin and Pagayon, who were both wounded in the shooting frenzy, were rushed to a hospital.

The suspects escaped toward different directions and disappeared in pitch darkness.

Senior Inspector Elias Dandan, chief of the Matalam municipal police, said investigators are still to determine the identities of the gunmen and their real motive for the attack.