Brgy chief in Samar shot dead

CALBAYOG CITY — A day after village chief Estrella Olyoha and her son were murdered in this city, another barangay chairman of this city in Samar was shot to death Saturday afternoon.

Superintendent Marlon Quemno, Calbayog Police chief, identified the victim as 53-yearold Darwin Soza Tan, who was gunned down after he got on board his vehicle with his family for a vacation at a resort in Tacloban City.

Quemno said three men, on motorcycles parked outside Tan’s residence, fired shots at the village chief with a .45-caliber pistol, hitting the victim on the chest and head. The killers immediately fled from the scene.

Quemno added that police investigators were still facing a blank wall on the identities of the perpetrators as well as on the motive of the killing.

Chief Superintendent Elmer Beltejar, director of the Police Regional Office-8, said that with the spate of killings of barangay heads in Samar, he ordered again his commanders in the field to intensify their anti-criminality campaign and strengthen checkpoints in the area.

“We have also coordinated with the Philippine Army on this matter because the incidents might have something to do with private armed groups (PAGs) that have been taking advantage of the police’s focus on the war against illegal drugs in the region,” said Beltejar.

Tan was the 18th village chief killed in Samar since 2014.