In front of his house in Tacloban DENR-Samar CENRO officer gunned down

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines  — The DENR's Community Environment and Natural Resources officer (CENRO) of Sta. Rita town in Samar was gunned down outside his house at V & G Subdivision in this city at around 7 p.m. on February 25.

Police authorities here are now on a manhunt of the two men who shot dead CENRO Pierre Gillo who sustained four bullet wounds in different parts of his body. His wife and four children rushed him to the nearby City Hospital but he was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician.

Initial investigations showed that Gillo, shortly before the incident, received a text message informing him to get out of his house because his service vehicle, parked outside his house, was damaged. As soon as he stepped out, he was shot.

There were no witnesses, but some neighbors narrated that days or weeks ago, there were two men who had been inquiring from them about Gillo.

Senior Supt. Wilson Caubat, City Police director, said he immediately formed a task force to investigate the killing of Gillo who was the CENRO of Sta. Rita for the past three years. He assured the public that the investigation would lead to the identification and arrest of the assailants.

Investigators said Gillo had been strict in implementing anti-illegal logging and poaching laws in his area of jurisdiction and, as a result, gained "enemies" from violators and even death threats from unidentified people before the incident.

DENR-Region 8 executive director Primitivo Ganito, for his part, appealed to the police to give their best efforts to resolve the case immediately so that justice will be served to the victim. (FREEMAN)