• RICHARD T. CABALLERO JR.
A former captain of Barangay Patun-an in the town of Calatrava, Negros Occidental, was gunned down at around 5:05 p.m. on Monday, in his own village.
The victim was identified as Alexander Apurado, a 63-year-old male and a resident of the barangay.
Initial investigation by the Calatrava police revealed that Apurado was riding his Baja motorcycle going home when he was shot by two unidentified armed men. A gunshot wound to his left waist resulted in his death. The suspect reportedly fled the scene after the attack.
Negros Occidental Provincial Police Office (NOCPPO) spokesperson PCapt. Judesses Catalogo revealed that Apurado had been detained at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa for a certain case. However the nature of the victim’s case was withheld.
He added that the victim had fully served his sentence.
Moreover, Catalogo disclosed that the motive behind the killing was yet to be determined, since the suspects have not yet been identified.
“Possibly it can be personal, or it can also be insurgency related since it happened in the far flung area of Calatrava,” he explained.
The police had recently initiated a conference with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday for coordination and to make perpetrators pay for justice, particularly in those cases that occur in the mountainous areas of the province.*
