BACOLOD CITY - The city health officer of Guihulngan in Negros Oriental and her husband were killed by unidentified assailants in Barangay Poblacion on Tuesday.

Police identified the fatalities as Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan and her husband Edwin Sancelan, a government employee.

Based on the initial investigation of the Negros Oriental police, the couple was on their way home when the perpetrators shot them and fled.

They sustained gunshot wounds on the different parts of their body and were brought to Guihulngan Hospital but were pronounced dead on arrival.

Police recovered from the scene 15 fired cartridges of caliber 45.

Karapatan Negros Island, in a Facebook post, said that Dr. Sancelan was allegedly named number one in the so called “hitlist” of KAGUBAK, an anti-communist vigilante group in the province.

The group also said that Dr. Sancelan was tagged as spokesperson of Leonardo Panaligan Command of the New People’s Army in Central Negros.

The group condemned the killing of the couple.

Dr. Sancelan was the head of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) in Guihulngan City, according to the group.

Police have yet to determine the motive behind the killing.

The death of Sancelan was the latest of the spate of killings in Negros Oriental, which allegedly intensified when four policemen were killed by suspected members of the NPA in Barangay Mabato in Ayungon town in July last year.

Among those killed were local officials and lawyers who were accused of having links with local communist rebels.

Ten minutes after the Sancelan couple were gunned down, another man identified as Saeler Alsong was also shot dead by motorcycle-riding gunmen in Barangay Calamba also in Guihulngan City.

Glazyl Masculino & Aaron Recuenco

Guihulngan city health officer, husband shot dead in Negros Oriental