Two Philippine officials are killed in separate attacks
Philippines, Jun 25, 2009
Investigations are underway after two Philippine officials were killed in separate incidents in the Philippines on Wednesday (June 24) night, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. A senior health official monitoring the spread of the influenza A (H1N1) virus, commonly known as swine flu, in the southern Philippines and his 15-year-old daughter were shot at around 7:00 PM on Wednesday, as they were on their way home in Davao City on the restive south island of Mindanao, the Manila Times said. Dr. Rogelio Penera, the health department's chief epidemiologist for the Philippine's southern region, was killed in the attack, while his daughter survived, sustaining a gunshot wound to the arm, according to the Inquirer. The Manila Times reported that two motorcycle gunmen pursued Penera's car and shot the victims near their home and escaped after the incident. The AFP stated that no groups have claimed responsibility for the attack, but chief of Davao city police, Ramon Apolinario ordered an investigation on the policemen stationed at a nearby police precinct after they had reportedly responded late to the attack, the Manila Times said. Penera was actively involved in the campaign to closely monitor transmission of the swine flu virus, but police remained unsure if the incident was related to his official duties as a doctor. Police spokesman Superintendent Antonio Rivera told the AFP that police were still determining the motive for the attack, but noted it could have been due to personal grudge or a case of mistaken identity. In a separate incident, a Philippines provincial official was assassinated on the outskirts of San Pablo City, located southeast of the capital, Manila, on the island of Luzon on Wednesday, the AFP reported on Thursday (June 25). First City Councilman and noted anti-illegal drug advocate, Danilo (Danny) Yang, was killed on Wednesday night, along with his bodyguard and a former village captain when they were ambushed by six unidentified men at Barangay Bautista along the elementary school in the area, according to the Inquirer. Police reported that one of the assailants had also been killed, but five others had escaped on foot. Because Yang was reportedly vying for the vice mayoral seat in the city in the coming 2010 elections, the Inquirer reported San Pablo police chief, Superintendent Raul Bargamento as saying politics could be the motive of the attack. According to initial investigation, the perpetrators may possibly belong to a gun-for-hire group, the Inquirer reported Senior Superintendent Manolito Labador, Laguna provincial police chief, as saying. Task Force Danny Yang has been created by local police to quickly solve the case. Meanwhile, police raided a Muslim rebel lair in Marawi City in Mindanao's Lanao del Sur province, arresting an alleged Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander and three others on Thursday, the Inquirer reported. A firefight broke out when a composite team of police commandos and intelligence agents raided two safe houses of MILF Commander Tagoranao Mangondaya, director Felizardo Serapio, chief of the Directorate for Integrated Police operations in Western Mindanao said. As police were about to serve search and arrest warrants against the commander, his men resisted and began firing. They were detained and brought to Camp Alagar in Cagayan de Oro City, where they will be charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, the Inquirer reported. The MILF is the country's largest Muslim rebel group who have been fighting for a separate homeland in the South for the past three decades. They had adhered to a truce with the government for years until August, when the Supreme Court struck down the two sides' attempt to establish an autonomous Muslim homeland in the south of the Catholic-majority nation. Since then, break-away factions of the MILF have been fighting troops on and off in western Mindanao.
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