3 slain in Cavite village hall shooting

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna, Philippines – Three men were killed while another was wounded when three unidentified gunmen attacked a barangay hall in Dasmariñas City, Cavite before noon yesterday.

Village administrator Mustafa Macaindig, 60, and watchmen  Pogi Pangandag, 24, and Macasandig Banyaga, 57, all of Barangay Datu Ismael, were declared dead on arrival at the United Medical Center due to gunshot wounds.

The wounded, Hajji Usman Masimba, was recuperating at the St. La Salle Medical Center.

The victims were on duty at the first floor of the hall when the assailants arrived in a Nissan sedan and fired at them at around 11 a.m., said Senior Superintendent Jonnel Estomo, Cavite police director.

City police chief Superintendent Hermogenes Cabe expressed belief the assailants’ target was village chairman Bong Pangadag, who was on the second floor of the building when the attack occurred.

Probers recovered bullet shells from the crime scene.

Police have yet to determine the motive for the attack and identify the assailants. 

It was not known whether the village hall and the streets around it were equipped with closed-circuit television cameras.