Farmer shot dead over land dispute

A FARMER was shot dead early Thursday morning in Sara, Iloilo due to a land dispute.

Police identified the victim as Ricky Nepomuceno, 49, a resident of Barangay Malapaya.

Nepomuceno’s neighbor, 31-year-old Rhake Are, owned up to the killing. He immediately surrendered to Malapaya’s barangay captain after the incident.

According to SPO2 Arnie Abian, Sara police investigator, the bad blood between the neighbors started in November 2017.

Both rented a farmland but Are later confronted the Nepomuceno couple after they allegedly tilled a portion of the land that belonged to the former.

They eventually settled their conflict.

Recently, Are blew his top after Nepomuceno and his wife planted vegetables in the same disputed portion, which the suspect believed to be a part of his rented land.

At around 6:00 a.m. of Thursday, he confronted the victim’s wife. The two had a verbal tussle until Nepomuceno arrived.

When the couple’s child heard the commotion, he went out to check.

With three Nepomucenos surrounding him, Are pulled a caliber .38 revolver and poked it at the wife.

He then turned the gun on the Nepomucenos’ child. The mother then hugged the child to protect him.

The Nepomucenos eventually ran away from the suspect.

But Are allegedly chased them until he caught up with the victim and shot the latter.

Abian said the victim suffered at least six gunshot injuries in different parts of his body.

Are is now detained while charges are being readied against him.