Drunken barangay chairman shoots constituent dead

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - A drunken barangay chairman gunned down a constituent-leader during a drinking spree Thursday night in Tulunan in the second district of the province.

Senior Inspector Ronnie Cordero, chief of the Tulunan municipal police, identified the fatality as Federico Supat, an incumbent member of the barangay council in Damawatu in the eastern part of the municipality.

Supat was shot dead by Damawatu’s barangay chairman, Gilberto Espelita, while inside their barangay hall, in the presence of other community leaders.

Supat, along with Espelita and other barangay councilors, were celebrating his 61st birthday at their barangay hall when he figured in a brawl with the barangay chairman, then already drunk.

An irked Espelita pulled out a .45 caliber pistol from his waist and, without warning, shot Supat thrice, killing him on the spot.

Espelita voluntarily yielded to the local police after the shooting frenzy. He is now at the detention facility of the Tulunan municipal police, awaiting prosecution.