DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — Three local officials in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental were shot dead inside their homes Thursday morning.
A little past midnight Thursday, Guihulngan Science High School Principal Arthur Bayawa, 55, and his sister Ardale, 49, the Curriculum Implementation Division chief of the Guihulngan City Division, were killed inside their house in Barangay Hibaiyo.
An hour later, Barangay Buenavista Chairman Romeo Alipan, 64, was also killed inside his residence.
Initial police reports said that the yet unidentified gunmen stormed the houses of the three victims and shot them several times.
They were all rushed to the Guihulngan District Hospital but were declared dead on arrival.
Four people have so far been killed in an apparent series of shooting incidents this week in Guihulngan, a northern city located 129 kilometers away from the Negros Oriental capital of Dumaguete City.
On Tuesday, lawyer Anthony Trinidad was also murdered by yet unidentified "riding-in-tandem" assassins while he was driving his SUV in Barangay Looc of the same city. His wife is still being treated in a Dumaguete City hospital, as of this writing.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines - Negros Oriental Chapter has since condemned Trinidad's murder, calling it "horrific and gruesome." — GAN (FREEMAN)