Cops eye mistaken identity in killing of Cotabato radioman

MANILA, Philippines - A block-time radio announcer in Cotabato City was shot dead Wednesday night allegedly after being mistaken for his “look-alike" brother, the local police said. Senior Superintendent Willie Dangane, Cotabato City police chief, told radio dzBB in an interview that Badrodin Abbas was shot dead while driving a red passenger multi-cab on Quezon Avenue corner Jacinto Street about 9 p.m. Wednesday. Abbas, a 38-year-old block-time announcer at dxCM-Radyo Ukay in Cotabato City, was an Islamic preacher, according to police. Dangane said the victim’s younger brother is the one who drives the passenger vehicle, but on the night of the shooting, Badrodin took the vehicle out. "Sa ating pagsisiyast ay napagalaman naming na nag-decide siya mag-drive kagabi. Actually ang nagmamaneho ay yung kanyang younge brother na look-alike niya, kahit profile ng katawan," Dangane said. ["In our investigation, we learned that the victim decided to drive the vehicle usually used by his brother, who is his look-alike."] The police official went on to say that someone could have been out to kill the victim’s brother because he had allegedly been engaged in a love triangle. The victim sustained a gunshot wound on his head. Dangane said they are optimistic that the assailant would soon be identified, since the shooting incident was caught on a closed-circuit television camera recently installed in the area. "Nakunan natin iyan at nakasakay nga sa XRM na blue [We caught the shooting on camera and saw that the suspect boarded a blue motorcycle after the incident]," Dangane assured. Investigators have yet to invite the victim’s brother to bolster the police’s theory of a ‘love triangle’ motive. Not work related Dangane said they were no longer able to conduct an autopsy on the victim’s body, because Abbas’s wife, Zoraida, immediately took her husband back to their home province of Maguindanao. "Wala [ng autopsy]. Ganun kasi ang kultura dito, kapag na-declare na patay kinukuha kagad ng pamilya at dinadala na sa kanila [It’s a custom here to immediately bring a dead loved one back to their home town]. They prefer to be returned to the province where they came from," Dangane said. Dangane, however, clarified that the incident should not be mistaken as another case of a journalist being killed in the course of doing his profession. "Hindi ito insidente ng atake laban sa mga mamahayag… I want to make it clear Abbas was not a regular member of our tri-media sa Cotabato City," he said. ["I want to make it clear that this should not be considered as a journalist killing. Abbas was not a regular member of the tri-media in the city."] - GMANews.TV