Contractor, in-law slain in Vizcaya

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Two motorcycle-riding men shot and killed a businessman and his companion on Friday on a mountain road leading to a large-scale mining site in Didipio village in  Kasibu town here, police said.

Supt. Domingo Lucas, Quirino police director, said Randy Domingo, a private contractor, and his sister in-law, Sheryl Puguon, were gunned down at around 1 p.m. by the two men along the road in Tucod in Cabarroguis, Quirino.

“As of the moment, we cannot yet determine the motive, but it appears that this is another case of murder carried out by riding–in-tandem assassins,” Lucas said.

Domingo, along with his four-year-old daughter, was driving his Mitsubishi Delica van to Didipio to visit ongoing site preparation projects for the gold-copper mining project of OceanaGold Philippines Inc., an Australian firm.

Puguon, who was also visiting her parents there with her two children, aged four and three months, hitched a ride.

The 22-kilometer dirt road from Cabarroguis to Didipio is the main access route that services the ongoing site preparation activities of the OceanaGold mining project.

Police said two men on a motorcycle overtook Domingo’s vehicle and fired three gunshots that pierced through the vehicle’s side door, hitting the victim.

Investigation revealed that when the vehicle stopped after it hit a roadside canal, the gunmen alighted from the motorcycle and pumped four more bullets from a .45 cal. handgun on Domingo. One shot hit his temple.

Puguon, who was seated at the passenger side of the vehicle with her three-month-old son on her lap, was instantly killed with a single gunshot on the eye. Melvin Gascon, Inquirer Northern Luzon