Masbate mayor’s aide gunned down while herding cattle

LEGAZPI CITY – Police in Masbate province are investigating the killing of a private bodyguard of Uson town Mayor Salvadora Sanchez, who was shot and killed by unidentified assailants, while tending to his cattle.

Charlie Moncada, 51, a resident of Barangay (village) Madao in Uson and a private security aide of Sanchez, was gunned down around 3 p.m. on Wednesday by still unidentified gunmen, Senior Inspector Maria Luisa Calubaquib, spokesperson of Bicol police, said.

Calubaquib said the victim was herding his cattle at a farmland near his residence when three male suspects armed with long firearms shot him several times, causing his death.

Calubaquib said investigators were still establishing the identities of the suspects and the motive behind the killing.

However, she said according to an initial report, probers were looking into angles that the killing might be political, insurgency-related or due to a personal grudge.

“It (incident) is still under the police investigation and the victim is
not a violent person, hence, he doesn’t have an enemy whatsoever,” Sanchez, told the Inquirer in a text message.