Village councilman gunned down

LEGAZPI CITY --- A member of the barangay council in the island province of Masbate was gunned down on Sunday night by an unidentified gunman during a barangay fiesta in Esperanza town, a police report said on Monday.

Maj. Maria Luisa Calubaquib, Philippine National Police (PNP) Bicol spokesperson, has identified the victim as Domingo Barotil, 47, a village councilor of Barangay Puting Bato.

According to the report, an unidentified attacker approached the victim who was attending to visitors at around 10:30 p.m. last June 23 and at close range shot him in various parts of his body.

The victim died on the spot before the horrified fiesta visitors.

Calubaquib said investigators are still determining whether the killing was political or insurgency-related.