A 55-year-old widow was shot dead inside her house in Barangay Camansi, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental on Wednesday, Dec. 24. (Kabankalan City Police Station)
BACOLOD CITY – The 55-year-old widow of a communist rebel was gunned down in Sitio Makilo, Barangay Camansi, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental on Wednesday, Dec. 24.
Police Lt. Col. Roberto Indiape Jr., Kabankalan police chief, said the victim Warlita was the wife of a New People’s Army (NPA) rebel killed in an encounter with the military in the barangay in 2022.
Indiape said the victim was the sister-in-law of Alberto who was murdered by the NPA for being an alleged military asset in the barangay on Dec. 14.
Investigation said the victim and her 16-year-old granddaughter were sleeping when the suspects forcibly entered their house.
The suspects shot the victim and fled toward a rice field.
Recovered from the crime scene were six fired .45 caliber cartridge cases and three deformed slugs and a fired 9mm cartridge case.
Police are conducting follow-up investigation.
Four days earlier on Dec. 20, a Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team (BPAT) member was murdered by the NPA in the barangay for being an alleged government asset.
Two other insurgency-related killings were also reported in Kabankalan City in September and October. Police have filed charges against the suspects in the two incidents.