Zamboanga Norte lawyer slain

DIPOLOG CITY: A prominent Zamboanga del Norte lawyer was gunned down on Sunday afternoon by unidentified armed men while he was visiting his farm in Purok Ipil-Ipil in Barangay Labrador, Polanco town, a belated police report reaching Camp Hamac here said. Senior Supt. Michael Macapagal, police provincial director, quoted report that Eyahiya Salip Amad Malon, 79, a Tausug residing in Barangay Turno here went to his farm with caretaker Victor Abubutal at about 1:30 p.m. He asked Abubutal to cut the field grasses that have grown tall in preparation for the planting rice during this rainy season. Malon then rested on his Nissan Navarra pick-up while for Abubutal when two masked men in a motorcycle without license plate arrived and fired at him several times using a 5.56mm caliber gun. Abubutal rushed Malon to Polanco District Hospital where Municipal Health Officer Juliana Uy disclosed that the lawyer died from multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators are looking into the angle that the lawyer’s killing was work-related or has connection with his lending business. The lawyer’s friends and fellow members of the bar urged local authorities to bring his assailants to justice.