COTABATO CITY — Police have stepped up security measures in Kabacan, North Cotabato following Tuesday’s shooting by armed men of a couple in remote Barangay Kayaga, a farming village situated south of the municipality.
Chief Insp. Ronnie Cordero, Kabacan police chief, identified the injured couple as Michael and Rica Capulong, of Barangay Bual Sur, Midsayap, North Cotabato. They sustained multiple gunshot wounds in their bodies.
The couple was onboard a motorcycle traversing Sitio Malabuaya, Barangay Kayaga at around 6 p.m. when overtaken by a motorcycle riding-in-tandem who opened fire at them.
“The gunmen sped off leaving behind the injured couple whose motorbike crashed by the roadside,” Cordero said, adding that concerned locals rushed the victims to a hospital at the town center.
He said initial investigation revealed personal grudge as the motive behind the couple’s shooting.
On Sunday, gunmen also shot and killed a candidate for Maguindanao provincial board member and her grandson at the Kabacan public market.
Earlier reports said Bai Susan Montawal, an aspirant for Maguindanao provincial board in the 2019 election, and Datu Harris Montawal, her grandson, had just emerged from the Kabacan market around 4 p.m. and were on their way to their parked vehicle when shot by hooded gunmen.
The Montawals were declared dead on arrival at the Kabacan Medical Specialist Hospital. Two bystanders were also injured by stray bullets.
Cordero said additional round-the-clock checkpoints were set up along strategic sections of the municipality following the twin shooting incidents. (PNA)
Couple hurt in North Cotabato shooting
By Noel Punzalan
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