Barangay councilor dead, one hurt in Kabacan town ambush

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Two men riding a motorcycle together gunned down a re-electionist barangay councilor and wounded a bystander Thursday night in Kabacan town in the province.

Chief Inspector Jordine Maribojo, chief of the municipal police, identified the fatality as Ronald Casimina, a member of the barangay council in Bangilan, a farming district in Kabacan.

Maribojo said Casimina was walking along a portion of the Cotabato-Davao Highway, which straddles through the Kabacan town center, when the suspects pulled over ahead of him, drew handguns from their waists and shot him in different parts of his body.

A 21-year-old college student named Marvin Placion was also hit and wounded in the shooting frenzy, now confined at a hospital.

The gunmen left the scene riding their motorcycle and fled.

Responding policemen and barangay officials rushed Casimina to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.