A SPECIAL Investigation Task Group (SITG) was created on Sunday, April 22, to investigate the killing of a barangay captain in Poblacion in Monkayo town, Compostela Valley.

Police Regional Office (PRO) in Davao Region spokesperson Chief Inspector Milgrace Driz identified the slain victim as Danilo Nortega Daanton, 44, a barangay captain in Banlag and resident of Purok Guijo in Monkayo.

A certain Nathaniel Medina Ilagan was also hit by a stray bullet in his stomach when Daanton was killed Saturday afternoon, April 21, and was brought to the Monkayo Health Center for medical treatment.

Senior Superintendent Roderico A. Roy, Compostela Valley Provincial Police Office (CVPPO) acting director, said the SITG Punong Barangay Daanton was created to dig deeper into the killing.

"It has been reported that way back in 2016, Daanton received various threats for personal grudge. He also facilitated the New People's Army (NPA) surrenderers. We are now looking into these possible angles," Driz said.

Any information, Driz said, that would help solve the incident will be weighed and assessed by SITG Punong Barangay Daanton.

Initial investigation conducted by the Monkayo Municipal Police Station showed that the incident happened at about 5:55 p.m. on Saturday, April 21, in Purok 9, Golden Plains Subdivisions, Barangay Poblacion in Monkayo.

Daanton was about to leave the subdivision on board his motorcycle and was chatting with a basketball colleague when the unidentified suspects shot him. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds.

Recovered from the crime scene were five spent shells and three slugs believed to be from a caliber .45 pistol. The victim was declared dead on arrival at the Compostela Valley Provincial Hospital.