Teachers cry for justice for fallen colleague in Maguindanao Sur
Peace and Order • 13:45 PM Mon Oct 9, 2023
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By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
AMPATUAN, Maguidanao Sur – Colleagues of a slain public school teacher here have asked police authorities to give justice to their fallen co-teacher.
In a statement, the teachers and school officials of Kauran Elementary School said: “We cry for justice.”
“The whole Kauran Elementary school family mourns the sudden death of a young, dedicated, promising great teacher and a very well-loved person - Sir Charles Candolo Fuentes,” the teachers said.
“You may be gone, but never forgotten. We honor and cherish your memory,” they added.
Fuentes was driving his Suzuki Raider 150 motorcycle heading for home when gunmen flagged him down, took his motorbike at gunpoint at past 7 p.m. Saturday. The suspect shot him in the head and body when he resisted.
“The impact he leaves behind is both lasting and profound. This sudden loss has left a void in our hearts and in our school which will be difficult to fill,” the teachers said of Fuentes who would have celebrated his 30th natal day on October 21.
Capt. Guiseppe Tamayo, police chief of Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, said one of the suspects was arrested with the help of the Philippine Army at a checkpoint in Barangay Kapinpilan, also in Ampatuan.
“It was a case of ‘agaw motor’ (robbery),” Tamayo said, adding that the victim was heading for home and was flagged down by two men along the national highway.
One of the suspects took the teacher’s motorbike while the other shot the victim in the head and body. Two empty shells from cal .45 pistol were found at the crime scene.
The suspect, who was driving the teacher’s motorbike, was arrested by Army troopers at a checkpoint in Barangay Kapinpilan, about 10 kilometers from the crime scene.
Tamayo requested to withhold the identity of the arrested suspect, now detained at the police lockup cell, as follow operation is continuing.