CHECKPOINT. Members of the Antipas municipal police in North Cotabato conduct checkpoint operations following the murder of a retired village councilman of Barangay Malangag in the area on Wednesday (Oct. 9, 2019). On the same day, a businesswoman was gunned down in Matalam town in the same province by a still-unidentified assailant. (Photo courtesy of PRO-12)
MIDSAYAP, North Cotabato – A former village councilman and a businesswoman were separately killed in the towns of Matalam and Antipas in North Cotabato on Wednesday, the police said.
Lt. Col. Lino Capellan, speaking for Police Regional Office 12 (Soccsksargen), said retired village councilman Nemesio Castor, 65, of Barangay Malangag, Antipas, North Cotabato, was resting in front of his home at past 4 p.m. when a man on a motorbike arrived and fired at him.
Castor was rushed by relatives to the Antipas Medical Specialist Hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Meanwhile, businesswoman Marissa Bautista, 46, of Barangay Poblacion, Matalam, was tending her variety store when a still-unidentified gunman shot him without any provocation.
“The man posed as one of the customers at 6 a.m. when he pulled a gun and fired at the unsuspecting lady trader,” Capellan said, quoting a report from the Matalam police office.
Capellan said both the Matalam and Antipas municipal police offices have launched separate manhunt operations against the killers of the victims.
“We remain optimistic to be able to capture those behind the separate killings and bring them before the bar of justice soon,” he said. (PNA)
