Maguindanao del Sur teachers call for justice for slain colleague

Charles Candolo Fuentes —KAURAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FACEBOOK PHOTO

AMPATUAN, MAGUINDANAO DEL SUR—Teachers at Kauran Elementary School in Kauran village here are crying for justice for their colleague slain by gunmen who took his motorbike on Saturday.

Charles Candolo Fuentes, a teacher at the school, was driving home when he was flagged down and killed by the suspects, according to Capt. Guiseppe Tamayo, police chief of Ampatuan town of Maguindanao del Sur.

He would have turned 30 on the 21st of this month.

The teachers were asking the police to arrest the perpetrators and bring justice to their fallen colleague.

“The whole Kauran Elementary School family mourns the sudden death of a young, dedicated, promising great teacher and a very well-loved person,” said a statement released by the Kauran teachers. “We cry for justice! Sir Charles Candolo Fuentes, you may be gone, but never forgotten. We honor and cherish your memory.”

Fuentes was driving his Suzuki Raider 150 motorcycle heading home when gunmen flagged him down, took his motorbike at gunpoint at past 7 p.m. on Saturday.

The suspect shot him in the head and body when he resisted, according to the police.

“The impact he leaves behind is both lasting and profound. This sudden loss has left a void in our hearts and in our school which will be difficult to fill,” the teachers’ statement said.

Tamayo said the suspect who took the teacher’s motorbike was arrested by Army troopers at a checkpoint in the town’s Barangay Kapinpilan, about 10 kilometers from the crime scene.

Police, however, said three suspects were involved in the crime, including one who shot the teacher in the head and body and another who took the teacher’s motorbike.

Two empty shells from .45-caliber pistol were found at the crime scene.

“It was a case of ‘agaw motor’ (robbery),” Tamayo said.

The arrested suspect had been detained at the police lockup cell. INQ

—KAURAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FACEBOOK PHOTO