2 hurt in separate shooting incidents in Kabacan

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines -- Suspected hired killers shot and wounded two residents of Kabacan town in separate attacks on Tuesday, police said.

Supt. Jordine Maribojo, chief of the Kabacan municipal police, identified the first victim as 53-year-old Celso Cuerda, who was riding a tricycle on his way home when one of two men, riding a motorcycle together, shot him repeatedly as they got close.

Cuerda, who was hit in different parts of his body, was rushed to a hospital by policemen and barangay watchmen positioned near the crime scene.

The suspects escaped toward Matalam town, also in North Cotabato.

Another Kabacan resident, Antonio Marollano, was also shot and wounded by motorcycle thieves at a busy section of the Cotabato-Davao Highway in the municipality on the same day.

The gunmen took Marollano’s motorcycle and escaped after they subdued him with several shots using handguns.

Maribojo said investigators are still trying to determine the identities of the suspects who shot and wounded Marollano and took his bike away.