BUTUAN CITY – Suspected members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) gunned down a former member of the Philippine Army (PA) in Surigao del Sur Thursday, an official said on Friday.
Surigao del Sur Provincial Police Office (SDSPPO) director, Col. James T. Goforth said Antonio Orac Dioquino, a retired army soldier, was shot to death in his farm in Sitio Mabantaw, Palo 9, Barangay Matho, Cortes town.
Dioquino 55, was assigned years before in Bukidnon province.
“We monitored armed men and believed to be NPA rebels in the vicinity of Sitio Mabantaw on Thursday. We suspect that the same armed NPA rebels were responsible for the killing of the former soldier,” Goforth said.
Dioquino was tending his farm with his son when four unidentified men armed with long firearms arrived, held the victim and shot him twice hitting his neck that resulted in his death, Goforth said.
He said the victim’s son heard the armed men said in the dialect: “He committed wrongdoing before, he must be punished.”
The suspects immediately fled to an unknown direction.
“The Cortes Municipal Police Station is now conducting an in-depth investigation for the identification of the suspects,” Goforth said. (PNA)
