Villager dead, 4 hurt as Cotabato barangay exec fires gun at roadside vending stall

COTABATO CITY — A villager was killed while four others, two of them soldiers, were wounded when a drunken barangay official armed with a pistol opened fire at a chicken barbecue stall along a busy street in Barangay Bagontapay, Mlang, Cotabato, around midnight on Saturday, October 19.

In an initial report released on Sunday afternoon, the Mlang Municipal Police Station identified the victim as Romnick Reyes, who died at the scene from multiple bullet wounds.

Two off-duty Army personnel, Gilbert Dasig and Rollen Jay Duron, along with two civilians, Jomer Lumugda and Rosinda Macailing, were wounded in the shooting incident.

Local officials and investigators from the Mlang municipal police confirmed that a ranking barangay official was responsible for the incident but requested that reporters not identify him yet, as witness statements are still being compiled.

Brig. Gen. James Gulmatico, director of the Police Regional Office-12, said on Sunday that he has directed officials from the Mlang municipal police and the Cotabato Provincial Police Office to arrest the suspect and ensure he is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.