BACOLOD CITY — Two motorcycle-riding gunmen shot dead a doctor in Negros Oriental, just two weeks after gunmen killed a human rights lawyer in the neighboring Negros Occidental.
Dr. Avelex Amor, Chief Medical Officer IV of the Canlaon District Hospital, died from multiple bullet wounds after he was shot around 8 a.m. along the national highway of Guihulngan town.
PO3 Jordan Banderas, investigator of the Guihulngan police station, said Amor was in a vehicle on his way to Dumaguete City with a companion when he stopped along the highway in Barangay Basak to urinate.
But just after he closed the door of his car, the men on board a motorcycle stopped near the vehicle before one of them repeatedly shot the physician.
They then fled towards the town proper.
Amor, 42, was taken to the Guihulngan District Hospital but physicians declared him dead on arrival.
Police recovered four shells from a .45-caliber pistol.
Banderas said they were still gathering information to determine the probable motive and identity of the assailants.
In his Facebook page, friends of Amor expressed shock and sadness at his killing.
They described him as a kind and dedicated doctor who served poor residents of hinterland villages.
On Nov. 6, a gunman shot dead human rights lawyer Benjamin Ramos Jr. in Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental.
Ramos whose clients were mostly farmers and human rights victims was buried on Sunday in Sipalay City, Negros Occidental.