Village leader shot dead

CATBALOGAN CITY , Philippines   â€” A 3-termer village chief and a known political ally of the city mayor here was shot dead shortly before noon on Sunday, a day after the Comelec gun ban started, causing fear among residents that the Oct. 28 barangay polls could be marred with violence.

City Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan identified the victim as 47-year-old Felomino "Kap Mino" Cabarriban, former barangay chairman of Lagundi, located about 4.5 kilometers south from this city, and an active political campaigner of Liberal Party candidates during the May 2013 polls here. The victim's wife is now the village chief of Lagundi.

"Kap Mino is confirmed dead; he was shot and his body is now at the hospital. My father is there to assist the family," the mayor said in a text message to The Freeman an hour after the news of the killing broke out.

Report from the police showed that the victim sustained gunshot wounds in the neck that went through the left cheekbone and another at the back that pierced through his upper left chest.

The crime scene was deserted when The Freeman arrived, and the fearful residents only went out of their houses upon the arrival of the media and the police.

Information gathered from the residents showed that Cabarriban was attending to a tupada (cockfight) in his barangay when one of four assailants shot him from behind his neck and another one shot him again as he fell down on the makeshift cockpit arena.

A resident, who requested not to be identified for fear of reprisal from the gunmen, told The Freeman he heard four gunshots but was not sure if all of these hit the victim's body. While the cockpit patrons scampered to safety, the witness said he saw the assailants escaping towards the mountainous side of the barangay.

The police found two empty shells, believed to be of .45-caliber pistol and an empty shell of 9mm bullet. As of press time, they were searching for the 4th shell, based on the account of the residents.

The police however did not issue any statement regarding the motive of the killing pending the result of the investigation.

In a separate interview, a son of the victim, whose name was also requested to be withheld by the police, said that right after the first shot was heard, his father fell down showing a bullet wound on his face and then succeeding gun shots landed on his body.

"From the first shot alone, I know that my father was already dead …" said the victim's son who also told the police that he was able to identify one of the gunmen by name. The police had also withheld the identity of this alleged assailant due to the hot pursuit operation that was immediately conducted.

Before dusk that day, the police collared one suspect whose identity was not divulged to the media pending the determination of his involvement to the crime via paraffin tests.

Mayor Uy also did not comment on the possibility of political motive in the killing, but told The Freeman she will wait for the results of the police investigation. 

Earlier reports said Cabarriban, due to his political leanings in the past elections, had many death threats sent via text messages but turned out to be duds. Last Sunday, the threat became real.  (FREEMAN)