Motorcycle thieves kill soldier in Cotabato

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Two thieves shot dead a soldier and took his motorcycle on Thursday night in Kabacan, Cotabato.

In separate statements early Friday, the Kabacan Municipal Police Station and the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade in nearby Carmen, Cotabato identified the fatality as Pfc. John Ian Delgado Castor of the 90th Infantry Battalion.

Castor was shot multiple times from behind by two men riding a motorcycle together while he was motoring through a stretch of the Cotabato-Kidapawan Highway in Barangay Kayaga in Kabacan.

Castor was on his way to somewhere from their detachment in Pikit, Cotabato.

One of the two gunmen rode Castor's motorcycle, according to witnesses.

Brig. Gen. Jimili Macaraeg, director of the Police Regional Office-12, said intelligence agents of the 90th IB that covers Kabacan and nearby towns, are helping investigators identify the culprits who had reportedly escaped towards Montawal, Maguindanao del Sur.

“It seems it was an `agaw motor’ case. Let’s give investigators enough time to identify his killers and file charges against them,” Macaraeg said.

The motorcycle of Castor was found abandoned by pursuing policemen at the border of Maguindanao del Sur and Cotabato provinces, already out of fuel.