Negros Oriental acting provincial police director Col. Reynaldo Lizardo. (PNA file photo)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Police investigators have identified “persons of interest” in the shooting and wounding of a barangay kagawad (councilor) and his companion in Minaba, Bayawan City, Negros Oriental.
Initial investigation showed that around 7:10 p.m. Wednesday, armed men shot Artemio Estrebella, 60, Barangay Minaba councilor, and his 45-year-old companion Ricky Canillo.
They were having dinner when the attack happened, said Lt. Col. Rex Moslares, chief of the Bayawan police. The victims sustained gunshot wounds.
Moslares said they are looking into a possible link of “persons of interest” in the attack as well as the motive for the shooting, including a possible grudge or business-related.
Recovered from the scene were two fired cartridges of caliber .9mm, Moslares said.
This is the second barangay councilor in Negros Oriental to be shot this month.
The first was in Vallehermoso town, which the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army claimed responsibility for, accusing the victim of being an alleged informant of the military and the police. (PNA)
