Barangay exec slain in shootout

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — A village security officer was killed in an alleged encounter with police officers in Calatrava, Negros Occidental on Friday.

Bolbet Leyte, 42, was declared dead on arrival at the Calatrava District Hospital due to several gunshot wounds in the body.

Reports said that members of the police Special Action Force and Provincial Mobile Force Company were conducting a joint patrol in Barangay Lagaan when they figured in the alleged shootout.

Team leader Senior Inspector Eduardo Lampayong reportedly heard a group of men talking in a hut in Sitio Balea.

The officers approached the hut, but a man reportedly opened fire at them, triggering a firefight.

Several men reportedly fled from the scene, leaving behind their dead companion who was later identified as Leyte.