Kabacan vice mayor shot dead

KIDAPAWAN CITY — The vice mayor of Kabacan town in North Cotabato was shot dead Friday afternoon in what could be another case of election-related violence, the police said. Vice Mayor Policarpio Dulay died while being treated in a hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound, according to Superintendent Leo Ajero, chief of Kabacan police. Dulay, who was running for re-elections unopposed, was shot while riding his scooter a few meters away from his residence near a book store at USM Avenue in Kabacan town. The incident occurred at around 3 p.m. near the University of Southern Mindanao compound. Responding policemen recovered one empty shell of 45-.cal pistol at the crime scene. Noel Dulay, the victim’s eldest son, in an interview said the family was shocked by the incident. “My father is a good man. He has no enemy in our place. We usually talk but he did not mention any threat of his life,” Noel told a local radio station in Kidapawan City. The younger Dulay also claimed that his father had no known enemies even when he was still a policeman in Kabacan. Dulay was a three-termer town councilor and was on his second term as Kabacan vice mayor when killed. Police were still investigating to establish the motives and the identity of the suspect as of posting time. - Williamor A. Magbanua/KBK, GMA News