The series of shooting incidents in Negros Oriental during the past few days is not alarming, the director of the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO) said Tuesday.
Col. Jonathan Pineda said in an interview that even though the shooting incidents were reported in succession in different parts of the province, these are not related and there is no reason to be alarmed.
“These incidents were perpetrated by different personalities with various motives and as such, these cases are not connected to each other,” Pineda said in mixed English and Filipino.
“What would be alarming to us is the occurrence of shooting incidents that are related and have something in common, such as the perpetrators or the reasons behind them, for instance, illegal drugs,” he added.
Five shooting incidents were reported in the province from Saturday to Monday where six people were killed, a NOPPO report said.
These were in Bacong, Bais City, Manjuyod, and Bayawan City where one died in each area, and Siaton where two people were killed, said Lt. Col. Roland Lavisto, chief of NOPPO’s Police Community Affairs and Development Unit (PCADU).
The shooting incidents took place in Bais City, Siaton, and Bacong on Saturday; in Manjuyod on Sunday; and in Bayawan City on Monday.
In Bais City, the case is deemed solved following the arrests of two guns-for-hire allegedly paid to kill the victim who was reportedly a suspected thief/robber, Lavisto said.
The Siaton incident involved two residents returning from a cockpit, who were shot dead by unidentified assailants after taking their motorcycle and cash.
The Bacong shooting remains unsolved. The victim is believed to be a “manghiloay” or someone who uses poison or “black magic”, and personal grudge was seen as the motive behind the killing.
On Sunday, a member of the Special Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) Active Auxiliary (SCAA) in Manjuyod shot dead out of “self defense” a man who entered a military detachment and allegedly pulled a gun at him.
On Monday, a poll candidate who lost in the last elections was shot dead in broad daylight in Bayawan City by still unidentified suspects.
Pineda reassured Negros Oriental residents of the police’s relentless anti-criminality campaign amid the recent series of shooting incident
Source: Philippines News Agency