DAVAO CITY, Philippines (UPDATED) - A grade school principal was shot dead outside a church in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi on Tuesday evening, November 14, police said.

Killed was Ponchita Francisco, OIC principal of the Mindanao State University Grade School. Supt Rodelio Jocson, Tawi-Tawi provincial commander, said Francisco was shot by a lone assailant at around 6 pm right outside the Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in the capital Bongao.

She was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead on arrival. A bystander was also hurt in the incident.

The gunman fled on board a motorcycle, Jocson added.

Francisco was promoted to the position only last June. Police say they will look into reports other contenders were angered by her promotion.

Teacher abducted

In Zamboanga City, armed men abducted a public school teacher in Brarangay Labuan, a coastal community, also on Tuesday night.

Reports said more than a dozen armed men barged into the house of Flordeliza Ongchua and forcibly took her past 7pm.

The suspects initially looked for Labuan Barangay chairman Oning Maravilla. But Maravilla was out; the men took his neighbor, Ongchua, instead.

Two policemen assigned in a nearby detachment, as well as the family guard of the Ongchuas, were all disarmed by the suspects.

Authorities have launched search and rescue operations to free the victim. - Rappler.com