N. Cotabato newly-elected village councilman slain in gun attack

COTABATO CITY – A man shot dead his cousin, a newly elected village council member, in Midsayap, North Cotabato on Wednesday morning, police said.

The victim, Suharto Antilino, was a newly proclaimed “Barangay Kagawad” of Barangay Poblacion 3 in Midsayap, Lt. Col. John Miridel Calinga, the town police chief, said.

“Witnesses said there was an argument between Antilino and his cousin before the shooting,” Calinga said in a radio interview, citing witnesses’ accounts.

According to some witnesses, Antilino, 35, ran but was chased by the gunman who opened fire, hitting the victim in the back of his head.

He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

Responding police found an empty shell for a caliber .45 pistol at the crime scene.

According to Calinga, the shooting was not election-related but more of a “personal grudge” involving the victim and the assailant. (PNA)