Wednesday, October 03, 2007 Councilor's slay linked to land conflict: police
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- Authorities are looking at land conflict as behind the motive in killing on Sunday of Dionisio Aguelo, councilor of Kalamansig in Sultan Kudarat, and his wife Elizabeth.
This reporter Tuesday identified Aguelo as the number one councilor of Lebak town also in Sultan Kudarat. This has been corrected by sources from Lebak who said Aguelo did not top the council race and was not a councilor of Lebak but of Kalamansig.
Supt. Suharto Tocao, Sultan Kudarat provincial police director, said they already ruled out politics as behind the murder.
Tocao based his statement on the investigation done by the 1208 mobile police group based in Kalamansig town.
"Based on the documents we gathered from the field, politics is out in the picture. We see land conflict as concrete angle," Tocao said.
Tocao, however, refused to elaborate on the issue but he assured relatives of the slain councilor they would get the suspect soon.
"We have already identified the possible group behind the killing, but we have yet to dig deeper into our probe," said Tocao.
Aguelo was driving his motorcycle, together with his wife, when waylaid by hooded armed men along the Lebak-Kalamansig highway.
Aguelo's wife died on the spot while the town councilor expired at a hospital in Lebak. (Malu Cadelina Manar/SS-Gensan)
