ZAMBOANGA CITY -- A land transportation employee and a businesswoman were shot dead in two separate occasions in southern Philippines Monday morning.
Police said an employee of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) was shot and killed in a hotel in this city after a heated argument with five suspects.
Chief Inspector Felixberto Martinez, Police Station 7 commander, said the incident happened around 8:45 a.m. Monday at the lobby of the Azenith Royale Hotel along Governor Camins avenue.
The victim, Abdulhamin Bandahala, 44, a liaison assistant of the LTO in Armm, died on the spot due to multiple bullet wounds.
A heated argument between the victim and the suspects resulted in a fistfight and ended in the shooting of Bandahala by one of the suspects, police said.
Martinez said that personnel from the Zamboanga City Public Safety Company have arrested the suspects in a hot pursuit. One of the suspects was a policeman.
Martinez withheld the suspects' identities as investigation continues.
Police recovered a .45 caliber and a 9 millimeter pistol from the suspects.
In Sultan Kudarat province, gunmen killed a businesswoman early Monday morning while she and her husband were on their way to a public market.
Rogelia Bengan and her husband were on their way to Isulan public market around 6:20 a.m. when gunmen on motorcycles shot the businesswoman dead.
Policemen who were stationed nearby immediately responded to the crime scene and traded gunfire with the suspects.
One of the suspects identified as Baganian Mopak was killed by the policemen, while several others fled on board a motorcycle. Mopak is a farmer from Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat.
Police are still investigating the motive behind the killing. (Malu Cadelina Manar of Sun.Star Davao/Bong Garcia/Sunnex)
