TUBIGON, Bohol—A spokesperson of the Liberal Party (LP) in this town was shot dead by a still unidentified assailant inside his house on Saturday, police said.
SPO4 Omar Khan Valdez, of the Tubigon police station, identified the victim as Amado Nitollama, 51, a resident of Barangay Macaas in this town.
Valdez said police are looking into the possibility that the killing was election-related.
“We received reports that Nitollama had death threats when he became the party’s (LP) spokesperson,” said Valdez.
Nitollama was a former village councilor of Macaas before he became LP spokesperson.
Initial investigation showed that Nitollama went home on Saturday around 1:15 a.m. after attending a caucus in another village, Bacong.
Nitollama went inside his room and slept.
The gunman was outside the house and stood on a chair to reach the window of the victim’s room.
The perpetrator then pushed the curtain of the room away and shot the victim while he was sleeping.
Nitollama’s wife, Alicia, who was sleeping beside him, was startled by the gunshot and screamed upon seeing her husband with a bullet wound in the head.
Elections in the country are often characterized by violence, especially in areas where contests for elective positions are closely fought.
Many election-related killings take place in areas outside of highly urbanized communities and in some of the most remote places in the country where government presence is barely visible.