Public school head shot dead in Maguindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Unidentified men on Saturday night shot and killed a government school principal in Maguindanao.

Police identified the victim as Tinto Tilas, principal of the Olandang National High School of Midsayap town, North Cotabato.

Senior Supt. Nickson Muksan, police chief for Maguindanao, said Tilas was standing in front of his house in Datu Piang town when he was attacked by two helmet-wearing, motorcycle-riding gunmen around 6:30 p.m.

Muksan said the victim instantly died of multiple gunshot wounds in the head, chest and back of his body.

“We are investigating the motive behind the killing. The suspects hurriedly left the scene after confirming their target was dead,” Muksan said.

Authorities were investigating if the victim was involved in clan war in the town.

In Mindanao, attacks, gun battles and ambushes are common among warring clans and sometimes the hostilities could last for decades until a peace pact is reached by the protagonists, usually through mediation by religious leaders and the payment of blood money.

Among the major causes are land disputes, particularly those caused by disputed government surveys or ancestral land claims; political rivalries, mostly election-related; crime-related, including murder and proliferation of illegal drugs; and competition over resources and businesses. SFM