Entrepreneur in Zamboanga del Sur shot dead
TIMRA Reports • 11:00 AM Tue Jul 5, 2022
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By:
John M. Unson
COTABATO CITY - Investigators are assessing the possibility that extortionists were behind the murder in public of a businesswoman in Molave town in Zamboanga del Sur early this week.
In a statement Tuesday, the Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Police said the municipal police forces in the adjoining Molave, Mahayag and Tambulig towns are together trying to identify the killers of the 47-year-old Thea Cabahug Ballesta.
She owned a roadside chicken barbecue eatery in Barangay Makuguhon, Molave.
The Zamboanga PPO said investigators are not discounting other motives for the gun attack that resulted in the death of Ballesta.
She was shot with a .45 caliber pistol by one of two men on a motorcycle that pulled over close to her establishment, killing her instantly.
The duo motored towards the direction of Mahayag town in Zamboanga del Sur, according to the Molave Municipal Police Station.
Members of the business community in Molave are suspecting that the two men behind the attack were extortionists, possibly angered by the possibility of Ballesta’s having refused to shell out “protection money.”
The Zamboanga del Sur PPO has asked residents of Molave to give investigators enough time to put closure on the incident and avoid speculating, meantime, on its possible angles. (JOHN UNSON)