2 shot dead in Masbate

MASBATE—A village chief and his treasurer were gunned down on Wednesday by still unidentified gunmen along the national highway of Barangay Tuburan, Cawayan town in Masbate, police said on Thursday.

Jose Pepito, 45, village chief of Barangay Liong, Cataingan, Masbate, and Perlito de Leon, treasurer of the same village, died on the spot after they were shot at close range, said Supt. Wilson Asueta, spokesperson of the Philippine National Police in Bicol.

The attack occurred past 1 p.m. Wednesday when the two village officials, who were on board a motorcycle on their way to Cataingan, were waylaid by the armed men who were in another motorcycle.

Pepito and De Leon suffered multiple bullet wounds, said Asueta.

Among the items police found in the crime scene was a bag with more than P100,000 in cash. Mar S. Arguelles, Inquirer Southern Luzon