Another political killing in Masbate

NAGA CITY, Philippines-—Another elected official lost his life in what could be another politically motivated killing and violation of the gun ban in Masbate early Monday evening, Masbate police said Tuesday.

Senior Supt. Heriberto Olitoquit, Masbate police director, said in a telephone interview that said Ervin Niez, 45, was dead on the spot after a gunman shot him on the nape with .45-caliber pistol around 5:55 p.m. in Barangay Nabangig in Palanas town.

Niez, a councilor of Barangay Pawican in neighboring Cataingan town, was about to park his motorcycle beside his mother’s house when he was attacked.

Olitoquit said they are exploring two angles in the killing: politics and the victim’s being an informant of the Philippine Amy, “which could have put him at odds with the New People’s Army.”

He said soldiers and Palanas police rushed to the crime scene where they recovered a slug and a spent cartridge from a .45-caliber.

Palanas is around 56 kilometers south of Masbate City, provincial capital of Masbate.

The gunman, who fled with two lookouts onboard a motorcycle, has yet to be identified.

Niez’s is the ninth reported murder in Masbate this month. It comes on the heels of the killing of Mario Pasiliao, 44, in Masbate City on Thursday last week.