Sultan Kudarat. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
COTABATO CITY – Joint police and military forces in Lebak and nearby towns of Sultan Kudarat province have launched a manhunt against two men who shot dead a village official on Thursday night.
Lt. Colonel Julius Malcontento, Lebak municipal police chief, said soldiers from the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade are helping the local police in locating one of two gunmen who killed Rogelio Talagtag, 53, village chief of Barangay Basak.
Talagtag was standing in front of his family-owned variety store in Purok Beverly Hills when two men riding on a motorbike arrived at about 5:10 p.m.
“One of them alighted and shot the unsuspecting village official from behind, hitting him in the head and body. He died instantly,” Malcontento said, citing a police report.
The attacker boarded the motorbike again and fled to an unknown direction.
Malcontento said responding police personnel found eight empty shells and a slug for a caliber .45 pistol at the crime scene.
The motive of the attack and the perpetrators are still being determined.
Brig. Gen. Jimili Macaraeg, Police Regional Office 12 director, ordered the Lebak and nearby police stations to intensify their manhunt against the perpetrators to ensure that those behind the attack are held accountable.