Maguindanao town poll exec gunned down

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - – Still unidentified men shot dead in Matalam town this province the assistant election officer of Parang, a politically troubled seaside town in Maguindanao, on Monday, according to authorities.

Senior Inspector Elias Coloma, Matalam police chief, said probers learned that the victim, 56-year-old Ted Monteverde Cespon, who frequented Kidapawan City and Matalam to visit relatives, had received death threats through text messages.

Cespon was riding a jeepney on his way to Matalam from Kidapawan City when his attackers, onboard a motorcycle, overtook and at gunpoint, ordered the driver to pull over.

Coloma said there were indications that Ces-pon knew he was the target of the gunmen.

Coloma said Cespon immediately alighted from the jeepney after its driver pulled over along a secluded stretch of the highway in Barangay Manubuan in Matalam, but was gunned down with .45-caliber pistols as he tried to run away.

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

Coloma said they would ask Cespon’s relatives in Parang to help them identify his killers and determine the motive behind his slay.

“There are indications that it could possibly be work-related. We are not passing judgment this early. We have to let investigators finish their job of unearthing the real circumstances that led to the murder of Cespon,” he said.