Gunmen kill election officer in North Cotabato

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Unidentified gunmen shot dead an assistant election officer in Matalam town on Monday.

Senior Inspector Elias Coloma, chief of the Matalam municipal police, said 56-year old Ted Monteverde Cespon died on the spot.

Investigators found out that Cespon, who frequented Kidapawan City and Matalam to visit his relatives, had received death threats via his mobile phone from anonymous senders prior to the incident.

Cespon, a resident and assistant election officer of Parang town, was riding a jeepney and on his way to Matalam from Kidapawan City when motorcycle-riding gunmen overtook the vehicle and at gunpoint, ordered the driver to pullover.

Coloma said that based on the accounts of the witnesses, Cespon had no idea that he was the target of the gunmen.

He said Cespon immediately alighted from the jeepney after its driver pulled over along a secluded stretch of the highway in Barangay Manubuan in Matalam.

“The suspects immediately approached him and shot him with their handguns,” Coloma said.

Coloma said they will ask Cespon's relatives in Parang to help them determine the real motive for the attack and possibly the identities of the killers.

“There are indications that it could possibly be work-related. We’re not making conclusions this early. We have to let investigators finish their job of unearthing the real circumstances that led to the murder of Mr. Cespon,” Coloma said.

The gunmen hurriedly left the scene riding their motorcycle after they felled Cespon with their caliber .45 pistols, leaving the victim and the horrified jeepney passengers behind.