COTABATO CITY— A gunman shot and killed a businesswoman in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte on Wednesday, December 25. The victim was a community leader active in domestic peace and security initiatives.
Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters on Thursday, December 26, that the merchant Marissa Barrozo died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds.
She was standing at the entrance to her adjoining roadside stores, selling various commercial products, canned goods, rice and bottled water, in Sitio Semba in Barangay Tamontaka in Datu Odin Sinsuat when a man armed with a pistol approached her and opened fire, killing her on the spot.
Barrozo’s assailant and a companion, who acted as a lookout, had managed to escape before responding volunteer community watchmen and barangay officials could reach the crime scene.
Barrozo, a community leader who strongly supported the public service initiatives of the Tamontaka barangay government, was also known for gifting food to her Muslim neighbors and customers during the annual month-long Ramadan fasting season.
Officials of the Datu Odin Sinsuat Municipal Police Station and local executives are cooperating in identifying her killer for prosecution.
Macapaz said Barangay Tamontaka officials and relatives of Barrozo are uncertain yet if the atrocity that resulted in her death was related to her voluntary work as a community leader, or to her business.