COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Three city residents were killed while another was seriously wounded in separate gun attacks on Wednesday, police said.
Rodrito Buat Dalinding, 54, was riding his motorcycle on his way home when a gunman flagged him down and opened fire with a handgun, killing him on the spot.
Relatives hinted that the murder of Dalinding is related to his alleged involvement in trafficking of illegal drugs.
An employee of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the 30-year-old Yasser Mamadra, was shot dead by a pistol-wielding suspect in a residential area here several hours later.
A woman named Baiko Akmad Tasil, 32, was whiling away time at their frontyard in a riverside barangay when a suspect approached and shot her with a pistol. She also died on the spot.
Senior Supt. Rolen Balquin, director of the Cotabato City police, said investigators are still trying to determine the motives of the murder of Dalinding, Mamadra and Tasil.
“These are different cases, not in anyway related to each other†Balquin told reporters.
Balquin said investigators are also trying to establish the identity of the gunman that attempted to kill Alvin Macarido, 38, using a pistol, in another attack also on Wednesday in Bagua District here.
Macarido, who was wounded in attack, is now undergoing medication at a hospital.