Armed men kill teacher; daughter wounded

BACOLOD CITY—He was looking forward to his retirement next year.

But public school teacher Romeo Valle was killed while his daughter was wounded on Tuesday night when armed men, believed to be robbers, fired at them while they were heading home in Victorias City in Negros Occidental.

Romeo, 64, a teacher of Estado Elementary School, died from a bullet wound in the back. His daughter, Joy Mar, 24, an employee of a drug rehabilitation center in Victorias, suffered a bullet wound in the back.

The two were riding on a motorcycle on their way home to Barangay Estado when the armed men flagged them down in Hacienda Minoro, Barangay 10. Romeo, however, ignored the two and continued driving.

The assailants then opened fire at them, said Supt. Alexander Muñoz, Victorias police officer in charge.

Despite his wounds, Muñoz said Romeo managed to drive the motorcycle toward a populated area where he and his daughter sought help before he died.

Joy Mar is in stable condition in a private hospital in Bacolod.

Police said the assailants might have intended to rob the victims since there had been cases of holdup in the area in previous years.