Police are looking at the possibility that the murder of Danny Matabalao Darping, chairman of Barangay Kalanganan 1, is related to his work.
Police Major Rustom Pastolero, city Police Station 2 chief, said this is based on their initial investigation.
“The perpetrators might have harbored ill-feeling with the village official over some issues,” Pastolero said Friday, June 11.
Pastolero added that they are not discounting other possible motives in the incident like personal grudge.
The victim was waiting in a roadside car wash center around 8 a.m. in Barangay Rosary Heights 8 when two men on a motorbike arrived.
Pastolero said witnesses saw one of the suspects pulling out a pistol and shooting the unsuspecting Darping in the head and body, killing him instantly. The suspects fled toward an unknown direction after the incident, witnesses added.
“The family vowed to cooperate with the investigation,” Pastolero said, adding that they are waiting for the family to complete the burial and grieving period.
He said the family initially told police probers that the slain barangay official has been receiving death threats. Police found two empty shells of caliber .45 pistol at the crime scene.