BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Four unidentified armed men shot and killed a 61-year-old farmer on July 29 at Sitio Langoni in Brgy. Inayawan, Cauayan, Negros Occidental.
The victim, identified by the Cauayan police as Panfilo Maban succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds.
Maban was reported as a local member of party-list group ACT-CIS (Anti-Crime and Terrorism thru Community Involvement and Support).
Initial police investigations showed that four armed visited the victim and his wife, who were both attending their farm in the remote sitio.
It was found out later by the victim’s wife that her husband was shot several times by the armed men, using an M-16 rifle.
On July 14, soldiers of the 15th and 47th Infantry Battalions figured in an encounter with about 10 suspected rebels in Brgy. Inayawan, Cauayan.
Army soldiers recovered a caliber .45 pistol with magazine containing seven ammunition; Improvised Explosive Device (IED), 50 meters of electric wire; three cellphones; a charger of Baofeng radio, among other personal belongings.
The Cauayan police has yet to validate claims that the suspects behind the death of Maban may have been NPA rebels.*
