Zamboanga del Norte town elections officer killed in gun attack

DIPOLOG CITY, Philippines –  A still unidentified motorcycle-riding gunman shot and killed the elections officer of a town in Zamboanga del Norte at 8:30 pm on Thursday, June 9, just a day after the election period ended.

Police said 45-year-old engineer Maricel Adriatico-Peralta, the elections officer of Mutia town, was attacked while she was driving her car on her way home to Barangay Polo, Dapitan City.

Her companion, assistant elections officer Maritess Inding, 52, was unhurt in the attack carried out as soon as the two women reached a bridge in Barangay Lapu-Lapu, Piñan town in Zamboanga del Norte, said Master Sergeant Emee Monceda.

Police said the gunman fired towards the driver’s seat of the black Toyota Vios, killing Peralta who was riddled with bullets.

Authorities were still facing a blank wall in their investigation although police classified Mutia town as an “area of concern” during the election period following the April 20 shooting death of Noel Padrillan, a bodyguard of defeated mayoral candidate Adelmo Laput.

Padrillan’s mother, Angelina, has accused Mutia Mayor Lorrymir Adasa and two others of being behind the killing. – with reports from Richard Falcatan/Rappler