MEMBERS of the New People’s Army (NPA) are among the suspects being eyed in the killing of a farmer who was shot dead near his house in Barangay San Isidro, Toboso town, Negros Occidental around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, 2022.
Toboso Municipal Police Station chief Captain Paul Kenneth Magan said there was information alleging that the victim Bienvinido Montejar, 62, of Sitio Mainit in the village was a rebel returnee.
Magan said they are still coordinating with the Philippine Army to validate such information.
“If it is not related to the allegations of him being a rebel-returnee, it could be that the killing might have been triggered by a land dispute,” the police official said.
Investigation showed that around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, three unidentified men invited Montejar to have a coffee near their house but a few moments later, his relatives heard a commotion between the victim and the men followed by a gunshot.
Montejar sustained a gunshot wound to the head and died on the spot, police records showed.
Fired cartridges of .45 caliber pistol and .356 caliber revolver were recovered from the crime scene, Magan said.
Meanwhile, in Bacolod City, a grudge allegedly triggered the shooting of a store owner along Margareta Street in Barangay 40 around 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 20.
Major Leo Estopa, commander of Police Station 6, said John Irish Chiva, 42, of Lizares Extension of the barangay, was collecting rotten fruits and vegetables, which he intended to dry and sell, when he was gunned down by a lone suspect on board a motorcycle.
He was rushed to the Bacolod Adventist Medical Center where he is now recuperating.
The victim sustained a wound to the forehead.
Estopa said they received information that people were complaining against Chiva whom they claimed threatened them.
A fired cartridge case of a .45 caliber pistol was recovered from the crime scene, he said.
Investigation is ongoing.