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NICA top brass gunned down

BAGUIO CITY (July 19) — A high-ranking military intelligence officer in the Ilocos Region was killed by still unidentified armed men Monday afternoon a few meters away from his office in San Fernando City, La Union.

Cesar Murla, 48, assistant director for operations of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), was declared dead on arrival at the hospital after two or three gunmen armed with .45 caliber pistols waylaid him in front of the Saint Louis College (SLC) in the said city. Murla sustained two gunshot wounds in the head and two more on both sides of his body from caliber .45 pistols.

Murla holds office at the Camp Diego Silang compound of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in San Fernando City.

The intelligence officer, his wife Nena claimed, was about to fetch their daughter at the SLC when the gunmen, clad in SLC school t-shirts, shot him. He reportedly left his office at around 5:05 p.m., and about five minutes later he was killed.

Investigators said that eyewitnesses described the gunmen to be about only around 24 to 25 years old, and probably mingled immediately with students exiting SLC after the shooting to evade notice.

The intelligence officer who had been assigned as a government intelligence operative in Regions 1, 2 and Central Luzon had no known death threats, his wife claimed.

As of press time, police have not established any motive on the killing, although his death could be work-related because of his work at the NICA.”

La Union police intelligence and investigation head Chief Inspector Sterling Blanco said they have no suspects yet.

Murla was born in Luwalhati barangay in Baguio City, where his remains were brought this week. # Ace Alegre for NORDIS

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