A DISPUTE over property boundaries pushed a construction worker to gun down his 74-year-old neighbor in Barili town, southwest Cebu on Tuesday morning, July 5, 2022.

Police identified the fatality as Melchora Bayadog, a resident of Sitio Malingin, Barangay Gunting, in the same town.

The suspect, Joel Saplaag, a resident of the same area, remains at large.

Staff Sgt. Erwin Alviso, an investigator for the Barili Police Station, said the incident was reported to them at 5:15 a.m. on Tuesday.

Alviso said it was Barangay Gunting Councilor Crisiolo Superales who reported the incident to their station.

Bayadog’s husband, Cresencio, told police that he was busy preparing breakfast for himself and his wife when he saw Saplaag walking at the back of their house.

According to the victim’s husband, Saplaag suddenly opened their curtain of their kitchen window and suddenly shot Bayadog at the back using a .45 pistol. Saplaag immediately fled from the crime scene.

Cresencio with the help of his neighbors immediately brought Bayadog to the Barili District Hospital but she died before arriving at the facility.

Alviso said four days before the incident, Bayadog and Saplaag had been involved in a dispute after the victim reportedly planted a Cogon grass near the suspect’s house.

Bayadog and Saplaag were reportedly land caretakers; they had been involved in several disputes just before the incident occurred.