NPA 'hitmen' kill rebel turned pastor

BACOLOD CITY ,Philippines  — A pastor, who was a former rebel, was gunned down by suspected members of the New People's Army last Sunday morning in Cauayan town of Negros Occidental, said a military report.

The fatality was identified as Timoteo Salazar, 54, who succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds that caused his instant death, said 1st Lt. Rey Balibagoso, 47th Infantry Battalion civil-military operations officer.

Salazar was shot by three unidentified NPA members, with M-16 assault rifles, at a riverbank in sitio Calapnisan of Brgy. Inayawan in Cauayan, he said.

SPO4 Alvin Cuenca, Cauayan deputy police chief, said Salazar, a minister of the religious sect "Dios Na Amahan," was on his way home after officiating at a religious ceremony.

He was driving a motorcycle, with two passengers, when they were waylaid by the three armed men.

Salazar was shot while trying to evade the armed men. His two companions, one of them his nephew, however managed to escape unharmed, Cuenca said.

A post-mortem examination on the cadaver of Salazar showed that he was shot in the forehead, and also had three gunshot wounds in the back.

Before he became a minister, Salazar used to be a member of the NPA and later joined the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB), Cuenca added.