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Indigenous group leader shot dead in S Cotabato


A former journalist turned provincial chairman of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) was shot dead in South Cotabato Sunday. Police Inspector Ramel Villagracia, deputy chief of the Polomolok police, identified the victim as Tammy "Bong" Dawang, Sr., 50, a resident of Tuazon Subdivision in Barangay Poblacion in Polomolok town. In a phone interview, Villagracia told GMANews.TV that Dawang suffered two gunshot wounds in the head as a result of the shooting. The victim was immediately rushed to Howard Hubbard Memorial Hospital in Polomolok town where he died. Two fired cartridges of a .45-cal pistol were recovered from the scene. Villagracia said initial investigation showed the suspect had a conversation with Dawang first before the shooting. It was not clear what the conversation was all about. “Dawang’s wife said the suspect referred to her husband as ‘Kuya Bong,’ so she thought they personally knew each other," Villagracia said. Witnesses told investigating officers the assailant fled on board a red getaway motorcycle parked 50 meters away from the crime scene, where his two accomplices were waiting, Villagracia added. Villagracia said they already know the identity of the suspect, but refused to disclose it pending further investigation. Villagracia said that Dawang, a former part-time reporter for Catholic-run radio dxCP, had been entangled in a land dispute with two other families over ownership to a 1,000-hectare land in General Santos City. Initial investigations said NCIP has been conducting land surveys on the disputed piece of land located in the city's Barangay Sinawal to determine the real owners and the corresponding boundaries. "But four days ago, somebody threatened to kill him if he continues with the survey. Sabi raw sa kanya, 'Kung itutuloy mo iyan, may mangyayari sa iyo' (The person told him that something will happen to him if he continues with it). He then received a series of calls also threatening him," Villagracia said. Dawang’s relatives believe the gunman could have been an assassin hired by one of the two other claimants of the disputed land in Gen. Santos. Polomolok is a first-class town with a population of 110,709 people in 22,492 households. - GMANews.TV

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