THE Manapla Municipal Police Station is now conducting a hot pursuit operation to apprehend the suspects in the killing of a former village councilman at Hacienda Cabayao, Barangay San Pablo, Manapla, Negros Occidental Wednesday, September 3, 2025.
Police identified the fatality as alias "Pablo," 54, a resident of the said village.
Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR) Public Information Office chief, said around 6 a.m., an unidentified man pretended to be searching for a lost carabao at Hacienda Cabayao and asked for the house of the victim.
She said the victim went out of his house and had a brief conversation with the suspect.
The suspect suddenly drew his firearm and shot the victim several times.
The victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died on the spot.
After the incident, Malong said the suspect also went inside the house, threatened the family of the victim, and fled towards the mountainous area of Hacienda Cabayao.
Police recovered from scene of the crime 10 empty shells and one live ammunition of .45 caliber revolver.
Malong said investigators found out that the gunman was accompanied by at least two individuals.
On Wednesday evening, the Roselyn Jean Pelle Command of the New People's Army released a statement that a team of red fighters executed Pablo.
It said Pablo is responsible for parading Marilyn "Ka Mona" Badayos and three other red fighters at Hacienda Builder, Barangay San Pablo on September 30, 2021.
They added that Pablo is an intelligence asset of the 79th Infantry Brigade.
The PRO-NIR strongly condemned the senseless killing of the victim.
Malong said the victim, described by his neighbors as a good and peace-loving individual with no derogatory record in the community, was a respected public servant who once dedicated himself to the welfare of his barangay.
"His untimely death has deeply affected his family, friends, and constituents who knew him as a decent man who lived quietly and honorably," Malong said.
Investigation revealed that the suspects, identified through the E-Rogue system and confirmed as members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA), targeted the victim due to a mistaken belief that he was an informant of the Philippine Army.
Malong said witnesses have provided sworn statements subscribed before a prosecutor in Victorias City, and the case will be filed on Monday, pending the release of the post-mortem and ballistic examination results from the Crime Laboratory.
"PRO-NIR assures the victim’s family and the public that justice will be relentlessly pursued. We denounce this cowardly act of violence and call on all Negrenses to unite with the authorities in putting an end to the atrocities committed by the CPP-NPA," Malong said. (MAP)