CALAMBA CITY, Laguna -- A lone gunman shot dead a payroll officer of former Ilocos Sur governor Luis "Chavit" Singson's company and her husband in Dasmariñas town, Cavite, on Tuesday night, police said.

Dasmariñas police said Carolina Maramag, 45, and her husband, Felix, 45, were on their way home when the gunman approached and shot each of them in the head.

Quoting relatives of the victims, Superintendent Josemarte Paras, Dasmariñas police chief, said Carolina was a payroll officer of Superb Security Agency in San Andres, Manila.

The couple lived in Solar Homes, San Agustin village in Dasmariñas.

Paras said after the gunman repeatedly shot the two, he took Carolina's shoulder bag and immediately fled on a blue motorcycle without a license plate.

The couple died on the spot while a bystander, identified as Mary Claire Luzarata, was hit by a stray bullet and was brought to the UMC Hospital for treatment.

Police said five spent shells and two deformed slugs of .45 caliber pistol were found at the crime scene.

Paras said police were still trying to establish the identity of the killer and his motive.

He said that although the gunman took some possessions of the victims, police could not conclude that robbery was the motive for the killings.

"We have suspicion that the assailant is a hired killer because he really intended to kill the victims," he said.