Sheriff, arson investigator dead in separate attacks

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines  --- Suspected hired killers shot dead a court sheriff Thursday night, just a day after gunmen killed an arson investigator in the province.

Juanito Diazon, sheriff of the Regional Trial Court Branch 18 in Midsayap town died on the spot from gunshot wounds he sustained in the attack.

Supt. Reinante Delos Santos, chief of the Midsayap municipal police, said Diazon had come from the town proper and was to alight from his motorcycle in front of his house when two men armed with pistols approached and opened fire, hitting him in different parts of his body.

Delos Santos said responding barangay officials rushed Diazon to a hospital. The victim was pronounced dead on arrival by attending physicians.

Delos Santos said investigators suspect the murder of Diazon could either be work-related, or might have stemmed from an old personal grudge.

The incident was preceded by Wednesday’s killing in nearby Pikit town, also in North Cotabato, of a Moro fireman named Aquino Taib Mamasalagat.

Mamasalagat was a senior arson investigator of the Pikit municipal fire bureau.

The victim was reportedly walking along a busy path inside the public market of Pikit when two men armed with caliber .45 pistols blocked his path and shot him repeatedly, killing him on the spot.

The suspects hurriedly escaped. - John Unson