Village exec shot dead in Makilala construction worker hurt in shooting in Kidapawan

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- A still unidentified gunman shot dead a barangay kagawad in Makilala, North Cotabato, around 3 a.m., Friday, reports from the Makilala Police said.Investigators identified the victim as Florante Cuas, 46, first kagawad of Barangay Sinkatulan, Makilala.Heidi, the victim’s wife, said her husband was sitting in one corner of their terrace when the gunman, armed with a caliber 45 pistol, pumped bullets into his head, several times.Members of the Scenes of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) in North Cotabato recovered from the crime scene seven empty bullets from a pistol, four of which hit the victim’s temple, according to police.Heidi is clueless as to the motive behind her husband’s killing.She, however, disclosed that sometime this year, a piece of paper with a list of those allegedly involved in drug trade in Makilala town was fastened in one area in Barangay Sinkatulan. Her husband’s name was included on the list.Despite this, Heidi denied her husband was into selling drugs. In fact, he supported the campaign against drugs in our barangay, the wife said.She said that when they saw the list, they immediately went to the Makilala police station to have it recorded. Her husband even submitted himself to the police for investigation.She hinted the drug watch list could have been circulated by those opposed to her husband’s plan to run as chairman of Barangay Sinkatulan in October this year.As investigators have yet to conclude Cuas’s murder, another shooting incident transpired in Kidapawan City, some 15 minutes travel north of Makilala town.The victim, the third in the city since August 1, was identified as Armand Dayaga, 44, construction worker from Barangay Manongol.The shooting was witnessed by Dayaga’s son Michael who said that a man who wore bonnet and maong jacket on board a motorcycle without a license plate shot and wounded his father, around 7 a.m., Friday.The victim was driving his bicycle on his way to the construction site in Barangay Manongol when the suspect fired his gun twice on his head.Dayaga, according to his wife Normalita, was still fighting for his life. The doctors at the Kidapawan Medical Specialist Center were hopeful the victim could survive the shooting once they place a tube on his mouth connected to an oxygen tank to sustain his breathing.Normalita, when interviewed over Catholic-ran DXND, denied reports her husband was connected to a drug syndicate. My husband doesn’t smoke. He doesn’t have any vice at all. So why would he engage in drugs, asked Normalita.Dayaga’s shooting was the 26thincident that transpired in Kidapawan City since January this year, and the second in North Cotabato province just this Friday, alone, data from the police showed. Most of these incidents were drug-related, data added.