LP’s village chief in N. Samar town killed; foe tagged by witnesses

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CATARMAN, Northern Samar, Philippines — A reelectionist barangay (village) chairman of Bantayan in San Roque town in this province was shot dead Saturday night, and his opponent in Monday’s elections is now being sought by the police for the killing.

Santiago Limpiado, 57, was walking home after attending a wedding reception when he was shot dead about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Limpiado was about 60 meters from his house in Purok 4, Barangay Bantayan when he was shot allegedly by Gil Siervo, his opponent in the race for barangay chairman.

Limpiado suffered two gunshot wounds in the abdomen and died about two hours later while being treated at the Catarman Doctor’s Hospital (CDH).

Siervo remained at large after he escaped following the shooting, police, citing witnesses’ accounts, said.

Senior Superintendent Mario Abraham Lenaming, Northern Samar police director, called Siervo’s killing as an election-related violence based on the suspected involvement of Siervo.

This was the first election-related killing in Northern Samar in relation to the barangay polls.

“Some witnesses identified him (Siervo) as the gunman but we were not yet sure of that. That is why we are conducting a case conference so that we can consolidate the pieces of evidence for possible filing of the case in court.” he said.

Some residents also said that the rivalry between Limpiado and Siervo had been intense. The victim was reportedly a local leader of the Liberal Party (LP) in Bantayan while Siervo was identified with the United Nationalist Alliance.

A team composed of 10 personnel from the Philippine Army was dispatched as augmentation force in Bantayan to help maintain peace and order there during Monday’s polls in the wake of Limpiado’s killing.

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