Balut vendor, 14, shot dead in Pangasinan  

MANILA, Philippines — A 14-year-old balut vendor in Villasis, Pangasinan has been killed in what police said was a case of mistaken identity.

Charles Edward Serquina and his mother were selling balut at a wake in Barangay Puelay on Friday last week when two men on a motorcycle arrived and shot the victim several times, police reported yesterday.

Serquina was pronounced dead on arrival in a hospital.

Two bystanders identified as Leonardo Balbin Jr., 42, and Orlando Pascua, 50, were wounded after they were hit by stray bullets.

Pangasinan police director Col. Jeff Fanged said investigation showed that Serquina was not the target of the suspects.

Prior to the shooting, one of the suspects reportedly had an argument with one of the people at the wake.

Fanged said the suspects returned to the wake, but mistook Serquina who was beside the person with whom one of them had an altercation.

Fanged declined to identify the suspects, saying probers are still gathering evidence for the filing of cases.

In an interview over GMA News, the mother of the victim lamented that the assailants shot her son without looking at him.