ZAMBOANGA CITY: A Filipino staff of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) was reported to have been shot dead in the restive province of Maguindanao in southern Philippines, police said on Friday.
But Unicef, in a statement sent to The Manila Times, said that Nestor Bulahan, a national staff member, was only “wounded in a shooting attack” on Thursday and added that it was “monitoring his condition.”
Police said that Bulahan was shot in the abdomen while on his way in a tricycle to meet a friend in Parang town.

The shooting, which happened at about 10:30 a.m., came three days after 57 people, mostly election campaigners and journalists, were massacred in Maguindanao’s Ampatuan town.

In its statement, Unicef said that the motive behind the shooting of Bulahan was not related to politics in the province.

“Current information reaching us indicates that the motive for the attack is personal. The attack is in no way connected to the mass killing committed in Maguindanao on Monday. He was on a personal visit at the time of the incident, and was not in a UN vehicle,” it added.

In Maguindanao, a province under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), police said that they were “still investigating the attack.”

“Initial reports said that Nestor Bulahan was on his way to meet a friend when he was shot by a lone gunman, who fled after the shooting,” said Supt. Sigfried Ramos of the regional police force.
No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the shooting of Bulahan, he added.

Little was known about Bulahan except that he was working with the Unicef, one of the world’s best-known organizations devoted to the health and welfare of children in 158 countries.             

Al Jacinto