Jail guard killed in Cagayan

TUGUEGARAO CITY – A 60-year-old jail guard was attacked and killed on Sunday (Aug. 6) by a man riding a sports utility vehicle in Peñablanca town, Cagayan province.

Michael Benedict Battung, 60, who works at the Cagayan Provincial Jail was alighting from his vehicle in front of his house when a gunman stepped off an SUV and shot him, said Senior Insp. Joefferson Gannaban, Peñablanca police chief.

The gunman then stepped closer and again opened fire, hitting the jail guard’s head and chest. The suspect had two companions in the SUV which sped off after the attack.

Investigators found 11 empty bullet shells fired from a Cal. 45 and a Cal. M-16 rifle.

Battung’s relatives told the police that the jail guard had been receiving accusatory text messages which described the guard and his son as traffickers of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride). Battung’s family said they were not tied to illegal drugs.