CEBU, Philippines – A village official running for barangay captain was shot dead along the national highway in Balamban town, Cebu on Thursday, October 5, a police official said.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Glenn Hife, head of the Balamban Police Station, told Rappler on Friday that barangay councilor Anastacio “Boy” Pacquiao, 60, was on his way from home to work on Thursday afternoon, October 5, when two assailants followed him on a motorcycle.

The assailants shot Pacquiao while he was on his motorcycle. Witnesses heard only one gunshot fired in the area where the councilor was attacked. 

Pacquiao was rushed to the Balamban District Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

Police found an empty shell from a .45 caliber pistol at the scene of the crime. The gunmen shot Pacquiao on the right side of his head, and the bullet exited his cheek, police said.

According to Hife, they are looking at three possible angles behind the death of Pacquiao.

“One of the angles we are looking at is personal grudges. We received a report that he got into a fight with fellow residents,” the police station chief said in Cebuano.

Another angle, Hife added, was politics.

Pacquiao was a former barangay tanod and an incumbent barangay councilor from Sitio Guya, Barangay Cansomoroy. He also sidelined as a habal-habal (motorcycle-for-hire) driver.

Pacquiao was a candidate for barangay captain of Cansomoroy against two other individuals in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections on October 30.

The police chief also theorized that the incident may have been the result of a land dispute that the official was involved in.

“We are still deepening the investigation,” Hife said.

As of this writing, police were pursuing suspects who were identified by witnesses present when the shooting happened. – Rappler.com