TWO men were shot dead on Thursday night in sitio Bontong, Barangau Camaman-an in Cagayan de Oro City, a village official said Friday.

Camaman-an chairman Roel Gamao identified the victims as Oliver Maestrado, 37, and Ronnie Potot, 35, both residents of said barangay.

Gamao said the victims succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds.

Records from the Cogon police station revealed that Maestrado died on the spot, while Potot was rushed to the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) and doctors later declared him dead.

Witnesses said two men onboard a single motorcycle gunned down the victims.

Gamao confirmed a report from the Cogon police that Maestrado was a known police character in the area and had just served jail time for theft. The records and warrant section of the police showed that he was on probation for a carnapping case.

Gamao said when Maestrado got out of prison, he went into farming and became a caretaker of a farmland in sitio Kamakawan in Barangay Indahag.

But Potot, Gamao said, had no criminal records and was even a law-abiding citizen in Camaman-an.

Police have yet to establish the motive why the victims were killed.

Potot’s wife Gina denied the two victims were friends and that her husband could have been falsely accused.

“Dili sila barkada. Walay sala akong bana, nadamay lang na siya mao dili ko kadawat sa hitabo,” Gina said in between tears.

Before he was convicted in 2010, Maestrado was said to be a “motorela” driver and at the same time worked as a repairman in a motor shop.

But Gamao belied earlier reports that Maestrado was linked to illegal drugs trading in the area, which could have been the motive of the killing.

Gamao said Maestrado was visiting a relative in sitio Bontong when the shooting occurred.

Potot, according to Gamao, left four children.

Due to poverty, Potot’s wife still has not claimed her husband’s body at the NMMC morgue.

But Gamao said the barangay will help the Potot family in the embalming and other expenses.

Maestrado’s remains, meanwhile, lie in state at one of the funeral parlors in the city. (Loui S. Maliza)