Negros DepEd exec, principal shot dead

BACOLOD CITY  , Philippines  —  In another wave of killings in Negros Oriental, a school principal, an official of the Department of Education (DepEd) and a village chairman were gunned down in separate incidents in Guihulngan City and Siaton yesterday.

Police said Arthur Bayawa, 55, principal of Guihulngan Science High School, and his sister Ardele, 49, an official of the DepEd office in the city, were shot by unidentified men who stormed their house in Barangay Hibaiyo at about 12:25 a.m.

The siblings were declared dead on arrival at the Guihul-ngan District Hospital, Lt. Col. Bonifacio Tecson said in a report to Col. Raul Tacaca, Negros Oriental police director.

After about an hour, Romeo Alipan, 64, chairman of Barangay Larena, also in Guihul-ngan, was reportedly shot by unidentified men who entered his house. He was pronounced dead on arrival in a hospital.

At about 8:30 a.m., motorcycle-riding men gunned down a certain Raklin Asturias in Barangay Maloh in Siaton.

In a pastoral letter, San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza called for end to the killings even as he reiterated the stand of the Catholic Church against the restoration of the death penalty.

On Wednesday, rebel returnees Weny Alegre and Felimino Janayan were gunned down, allegedly by their former comrades, in Zamboanguita town.

On Tuesday, lawyer Anthony Trinidad was killed while his wife was wounded in an ambush in Barangay Poblacion also in Guihulngan.

Last week, NPA rebels executed four police officers in Barangay Mabato, Ayungon, also in Negros Oriental.

P3-M reward up

Meanwhile, President Duterte raised the reward for information leading to the arrest of the NPA rebels who killed the four police officers to P3 million.

“Mas gusto kong patay sila. Just bring me the head of the idiot leader there... No questions asked. All he has to do is give a little information... Basta P1 million ako. Kasi masama ang loob ko bakit ganun,” the President said during the inauguration of a bypass road in Candon, Ilocos Sur on Wednesday night.

Duterte offered a reward of P1 million when he visited the wake of the soldiers over the weekend. He also posthumously conferred the Order of Lapu-Lapu, with rank of Kalasag to the police officers.

The President offered another P300,000 after his State of the Nation Address on Monday.   – With Edith Regalado