Ifugao pastor fatally shot by drunk man

Banaue, Ifugao – A Pentecostal pastor was killed here Tuesday when a drunk man indiscriminately fired shots from an M-16 assault rifle.

Pastor Marvin Osao of the Pentecostal Church died at the Ifugao General Hospital a few minutes after he was shot by James Dinanghay, 23, who was reportedly intoxicated.

Police said the pastor was sitting inside a tricycle with barangay kagawad Frederick Maguiling parked a few meters from the house of Dinanghay who, without any provocation, brought out his M-16 rifle and fired shots.

Maguiling allegedly tried to pacify the suspect by shouting at him to stop the firing, but he was ignored.

The gunman ran away to the forested mountain carrying the M-16 rifle while firing four more times as Maguiling brought the badly wounded pastor to the Good News Hospital.

Osao was later transferred to the Ifugao General Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly.

Senior Superintendent Joseph Adnol said the gunman later surrendered to the Banaue Police Station after the policemen negotiated with his relatives for his surrender. He is now at the provincial police command headquarters in Lagawe, Ifugao’s capital town.

Shootings on the rise?

In related developments, Ifugao policemen are still hunting down a ruthless killer who at pointblank shot and killed a hapless 18-year-old boy in front of his pleading mother and shot another 18-year-old at the heart of Lagawe.

Masi Dulawan, whose identity as an administrative aide of the Lagawe town local government, a native of Barangay Montabiong, also in this town, allegedly shot at close range 18-year-old Philipp Madawat of Poblacion East even with the victim’s mother pleading.

Another 18-year-old student – Tyron Tangulling, was also shot by Dulawan in the stomach. 

Adnol said the heated argument between the drunk suspect and the victims inside a café in Lagawe resulted to the ruthless killing on Aug. 3.

The victim’s mother – Natividad – even begged to Dulawan not to shoot when she saw the latter armed with a handgun approached the two for the kill. She allegedly acted as a human shield to her son but the ruthless killer pumped a bullet mercilessly on the victim’s head.

Dulawan fled aboard a motorcycle.

Maddawat and Tangguling were rushed to the Veterans Hospital in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya province after being treated at the Ifugao Provincial Hospital.

The victim is still in critical condition at the Intensive Care Unit. 

Adnol, who condemned the ruthless shooting that occurred in a laid-back town where shootings are still claimed to be unusual, said one good thing is that with the help of the Lagawe community who shed light on the identity of the suspect, they can now run after him. 

Adnol who described the suspect as a thug also said that Dulawan has a standing warrant of arrest for robbery in Cordon town in Nueva Vizcaya and carnapping in Echague town in Isabela.

Despite all these incidents, the police director plainly dismissed that there is a rise in freak killings linked to loose guns in the province, perhaps the most visited among other five other Cordillera provinces because of the Rice Terraces.

The pastor’s killer “is allegedly a hunter who acquired his firearm legally,” Adnol said, as he, however, admitted that they have no actual assessment on loose guns in the province yet. “It is though, not rampant as other provinces in CAR as Ifugaos are peace loving people,” Adnan said.