Gunman to target: ‘Chairman!’

A village chair in Sta. Cruz, Manila, was shot dead around noon Friday by motorcycle-riding gunmen as he was overseeing a project near his barangay hall, police said. Oliver Franco, 41, chair of Barangay 349, Zone 35, died at the hospital while being treated for gunshot wounds in the head. Franco and other local officials were then attending to a vegetable farming and livestock project on Antipolo Street when one of the assailants got off the bike, yelled out “chairman!” to get Franco’s attention, then shot him in the head. The shooter returned to the black motorcycle and sped off with his cohort. The motive for the killing remained under investigation. Erika Sauler