KABACAN, North Cotabato (February 12) —- Unidentified gunmen shot dead a police officer along the national highway in Sitio Malabuaya, Barangay Kayaga, Kabacan, North Cotabato at about 8:15 p.m. Sunday, February 10.
Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) led by Police Chief Inspector Bernard Paray identified the victim as Senior Police Officer 4 Macatanong Lilangan, 53 years old and a resident of Barangay Central Malamote, Matalam, North Cotabato.
Police investigators said Lilangan was aboard his multicab and heading towards Kabacan town when he was chased and shot by the two gunmen on board a single motorcycle.
“The gunmen started shooting Lilangan with still unknown firearms when he was still in Barangay Bulit, Datu Montawal, Maguindanao but he managed to evade the perpetrators until he reached the crime scene,” police said.
The wounded victim lost control of his vehicle and rammed a house along the national highway.
Lilangan, who was assigned with Davao City Police Office, sustained gunshot wounds on different parts of his body that caused his death.
The suspects immediately fled towards the direction of Barangay Bulit, Datu Montawal, Maguindanao.
Earlier on, authorities launched manhunt operations against gunmen, who separately killed three persons in Kabacan, North Cotabato, on Sunday.
Supt. Maximo Layugan, North Cotabato police director, said the military-backed manhunt operations aim to capture the gunmen who killed Abdulbasi Limbucan, and the couple Rebecca, 48, and Danny Ballasama, 50, all residents of Poblacion Kabacan.
Limbucan, a tricycle driver, was shot by a motorcycle riding-in-tandem while driving along USM (University of Southern Mindanao) Avenue, Kabacan at 9 a.m. Police recovered empty shells for .45-caliber pistol.
“Police investigators are still trying to determine the identities of the culprits behind the killing of Limbucan,” the police official said in a statement.
At about 2 p.m. on the same day, two men onboard a motorcycle also fired on the Bellasama couple who were aboard a separate motorbike along Abellera St. in Barangay Poblacion, of the same town.
“The husband was killed on the spot and his wife expired while undergoing medication at a hospital,” Layugan said.
Layugan believed personal vendetta triggered the killings,-Taher G. Solaimna/NewsLine.ph
