DepEd employee shot dead along North Cotabato highway

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — An employee of the Department of Education (DepEd) in North Cotabato was found dead with gunshot wounds along the national highway at Purok 7, Barangay Pontivedra, Antipas town shortly before midnight on Tuesday, May 21, police said.

Police Captain Bernard Abarquez, Antipas town police chief, on Wednesday said that the body of John Rex Iremedio Daruca was found lying on the ground beside the road of Antipas-Arakan national highway at around 11:30 p.m. of May 21.

Daruca, 30, married, was an Administrative Assistant (ADAS) of DepEd-Arakan and a resident of Barangay Malanan, Kidapawan City. He was the ADAS assigned to the Marciano Dahan High School in Barangay Doroloman, Arakan, in North Cotabato at the time of his death.

Abarquez said Daruca sustained several gunshot wounds on the different parts of his body. Police responding to the crime scene recovered seven fired cartridges from a caliber .45 pistol, he added.

Police could not yet determine the motive of the crime.