Woman linked to witchcraft slain

PAGADIAN CITY—A jobless 69-year-old woman was killed in the remote village of Tabina in Zamboanga del Sur and police authorities on Friday said they believed that rumors about her being a witch had triggered the attack.

Felisa Lomocso Paglinawan was sleeping with her grandchildren inside her house in Purok Dalman in Barangay Doña Josefina on Thursday when the lone suspect shot her repeatedly through a hole on the wall.

SP01 Nimrod Baja, the Tabina police investigator, said the unidentified man used a caliber .45 pistol in killing Paglinawan.

Baja said the police learned from locals that the victim had no job but depended on her children for sustenance. She also watched over her grandchildren as their parents worked.

He said the investigation also disclosed that there had been rumors circulating in the village about the victim’s alleged involvement in witchcraft.

Baja said Palinawan’s alleged witchcraft practice was being considered by the police as an angle in her killing. Leah D. Agonoy