Another priest in Nueva Ecija gunned down

MANILA, Philippines — A priest in Nueva Ecija was shot dead Sunday afternoon before celebrating mass inside a chapel in Zaragoza town.

According to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, Fr. Richmond Nilo of the Diocese of Cabanatuan was gunned down by unidentified assailants at around 5 p.m. while he was about to officiate mass in the chapel of Brgy. Mayamot, Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija.

BREAKING: Another priest, Fr, Richmond Nilo of the Cabanatuan diocese, was shot dead by unidentified persons while celebrating Mass around 5pm Sunday inside a chapel in Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija. #cbcpnews

— CBCPNews (@cbcpnews) June 10, 2018

Nilo was the former president of the College of Immaculate Conception in Cabanatuan City.

His death came less than a week after Fr. Rey Urmeneta of the St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Calamba was wounded in a shooting attack in Laguna.

Nilo was the third priest who was killed in a span of six months.

Last April 29, Fr. Mark Ventura was killed by armed assailants right after celebrating Sunday mass at a gymnasium in Brgy. Pena Weste, Gattaran in Cagayan Province.

Activist priest Fr. Marcelito Paez was also gunned down in Jaen, Nueva Ecija last December 4.