RETRIEVAL OPERATION. Rescuers retrieved the body of a farmer in a far-flung barangay about 45 kilometers from the town proper of La Libertad, Negros Oriental on Monday (Aug. 21, 2023). The victim was shot twice in the head allegedly by members of the New People's Army, police investigators said. (Photo courtesy of the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Police investigators are eyeing the New People’s Army (NPA) as allegedly behind the killing of a barangay intelligence network (BIN) member in a remote sub-village in Barangay Aya, La Libertad town, Negros Oriental early Monday.
An initial report from the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office identified the victim as Julibe Sanoy, married, and a resident of Sitio Manghuya in Barangay Aya, the farthest hinterland village of La Libertad.
Early investigation showed that unidentified heavily armed men shot the victim in the head twice inside his residence in Sitio Manghuya around 6:30 a.m.
Barangay Aya chairperson Elvin P. Gomez reported the shooting incident to the police.
Police Senior Master Sergeant Jared Oclinaria, La Libertad police station case investigator, talking in Cebuano told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that members of the town’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office proceeded to the area to retrieve the body of the victim "as we could not take any risks of a possible ambush such as what happened to police personnel in Negros Occidental recently."
They recovered some empty shells and slugs of caliber .45 from the site, he added.
Oclinaria said they are still validating information that the perpetrators, about 10 men, were allegedly NPA members.
No motive for the shooting was also available as of posting time.
Sitio Manghuya is about 45 kilometers from the La Libertad town proper and is already at the boundary of Binalbagan, Negros Occidental. (PNA)
