Surigao town exec shot dead

BUTUAN CITY  , Philippines  —  A municipal councilor was killed in an attack by motorcycle-riding men in Tubod, Surigao del Norte on Wednesday afternoon.

Felisberto Dumadag III, 48, of Tubod, was declared dead on arrival at the Surigao del Norte Provincial Hospital due to 12 gunshot wounds, according to Senior Inspector Arnel Banaken, town police chief.

Tubod was standing in a shed near his home when a motorcycle with two men on board pulled over at around 1:30 p.m.

The passenger of the motorcycle pulled out a gun and shot Dumadag several times.

The victim, who is a son of former Tubod mayor Felisberto Dumadag Jr., was seeking reelection in next year’s midterm elections.

Police are looking into drugs and politics as among the motives for the killing.

The victim, who was on the drug list of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Philippine National Police, was arrested in January 2017 by PDEA agents.

Dumadag was granted bail for his temporary liberty as the drugs seized from him weighed less than five grams.