Ambushed Kalinga bet for gov dies in hospital

La Trinidad, Benguet - Gubernatorial bet Rommel Diasen died in a hospital at 2 p.m. on Saturday, after gunmen ambushed him 30 minutes earlier while en route to Magnao village, in Tabuk, Kalinga. Investigators said Diasen, Kalinga vice governor and former Tabuk mayor, was gunned down at close range while he was talking to his supporters on his way to a campaign sortie. He sustained six gunshot wounds. Diasen was running as an independent candidate against Kalinga Rep. Laurence Wacnang and lawyer Warren Luyaben. Diasen had initially opted to run under Lakas for congressman but changed his mind at the last minute and decided to run for governor as an independent. Wacnang is under the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino. The KMP and Lakas parties are under the administration coalition Team Unity. Luyaben, president of the Intergrated Bar of the Philippines-Kalinga chapter, is running as an independent. Chief Supt. Raul Gonzales, Cordillera police director, said that they are looking into "politics as one possible motive" in the killing of Diasen. Senior Supt. Joseph Adnol, Cordillera police spokesperson, said the crime could have also stemmed from a conflict among tribes of the Mt. Province. The police said Diasen is from the Magnao tribe. Diasen and former Kalinga Regional Trial Court judge Milnar Lammawin, who was ambushed two years ago, come from the same tribe. Adnol said authorities earlier blamed Lammawin's death to members of other tribes in the province. The police immediately organized Task Force Diasen, composed of Kalinga Police Provincial Office, the Regional Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and the local unit of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the province. "They will conduct further investigation for the possible identification and arrest of the suspects at the soonest possible time," Adnol said of the task force. On Sunday, an Indonesian priest was shot dead shortly after celebrating mass in Lubuagan, Kalinga. The victim was identified as Father Francisco Ismatro but a police official later identified him as 34-year-old Francisco Madhu. Madhu was the assistant parish priest of St. Peter and St. Paul Church. An initial police report said that the victim was gunned down by Nestor Wailan and three other unidentified gunmen using an M16 rifle. - GMANews.TV