Police eye land row councilor shot dead

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines –  A 56-year-old councilor of Ubay town in Bohol was gunned down Saturday afternoon and the police are now looking into a land dispute as a possible angle in the killing.

Councilor Alan Abad was riding his motorcycle on his way to his post-harvest facility at around 4.45 p.m. on August 30 when two men, riding in tandem, shot him seven times at close range in Barangay Achila of Ubay, about three kilometers from his house in the Poblacion.

The ambuscade took place about 200 meters from the highway junction, with thick and tall grasses on both sides of the road shielding the view from people hanging around a bar from the highway.

Abad sustained six entry gunshot wounds from the back, six exit wounds in the front part of his body, including the chest, and a through-and-through gunshot wound in the head. The municipal health officer declared him dead on the spot.

Scene of the Crime operatives recovered a caliber .45 slug and seven caliber .45 empty shells. The police also requested an autopsy on the body to help in the filing later of a murder case against the suspects.

Chief Inspector Petronilo Gracia Jr., Ubay Police chief, immediately launched a hot pursuit operation based on the description of witnesses on the assailants who were seen riding a blue motorcycle speeding off the scene shortly after the bursts of gunfire.

Witnesses said they only heard the bursts of gunfire and waited first for these to stop before checking the area. They saw the fleeing assailants and described one of them as about 5’4” tall while the other was 5’6”.

The two hid their faces with sunglasses and bull caps, apparently avoiding the usual helmets that may cause alarm to their target.

Gracia said the powder burns evident on the victim’s body confirmed that the assailants shot him at close range, adding that the gunmen may have waited for him about 100 meters away from the councilor’s rice dryer equipment, about halfway between this place and the highway.

The police official said Abad was earning millions of pesos from his 120-hectare ricefield, and had served as councilor for three terms in the past. After a political hiatus of one term, he won again for the post and, when killed, was already on his second term as councilor.

Ubay town Mayor Galicano Atup expressed lament upon learning of the incident, saying that Abad was an articulate and sincere member of the Municipal Council, serving as chair of the agriculture committee and vice chair of the appropriations committee.

Atup said the councilor had no personal enemy, but must have earned the ire of some people due to his vocal commentaries regarding the municipal government’s purchase of a property that has been a hot issue tackled almost every day in radio programs in Ubay.