Isabela village chief shot dead on first day of gun ban

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MANILA, Philippines—A village chieftain was shot dead by a still unidentified assailant at the height of a town fiesta in Isabela Sunday evening, police said Monday.

Senior Superintendent Franklin Mabanag, Isabela provincial police office director, identified the victim as Victor Acoba, 43, the incumbent village captain of Barangay (village) San Vicente in San Pablo, Isabela.

He said the incident took place around 10:20 p.m. Sunday—the first day the Commission on Elections imposed the gun ban—inside the town’s Delfin Albano Hall while Acoba, his wife, and other residents were enjoying the fiesta.

Mabanag said the unidentified gunman, who was suspected to have been armed with a caliber .45, came from behind and shot Acoba twice to the head, killing the victim instantly.

“The suspect immediately merged himself with the crowd in going out of the building and fled…,” Mabanag said.

Two spent shells from a caliber .45 were recovered from the crime scene. The police has launched a deeper probe into the case. Jamie Marie Elona