By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

An incumbent Escalante City councilor was shot dead by riding-in-tandem suspects yesterday afternoon.

Police identified the fatality as City Councilor Bernardino ‘Toto’ Patigas.

Based on initial investigations by Escalante City police, the city official was on his way home in the city’s Barangay Alimango aboard a motorcycle when he was shot by a motorcycle-riding gunman.

Investigators have yet to determine a motive behind the murder.

Patigas is the second local official killed in recent days following the murder of Moises Padilla Municipal Councilor Jolomar Hilario.

The slain official previously served as secretary for the Northern Negros Alliance of Human Rights Advocates./DGB, WDJ