DepEd teacher shot in front of pupils in Bukidnon

A public school teacher in Bukidnon was shot inside the campus of an elementary school in Valencia City on Tuesday, the authority said.

The teacher was identified to be  Zhydee Cabañelez, 32, a public Elementary School in Sitio Dalit, Barangay Lumbayao in Valencia City. Four unidentified armed men on board two motorcycles entered the school at 8 am, just before the class start.

It was reported that aside from Cabañelez, her husband Ramil, 34, and seven pupils were inside the classroom at the time of the shooting.

According to Inquirer Dalit Elementary School is a small learning facility about 20 kilometers from Valencia city proper. The school can only be accessed by a raft or pump boat from the other side of the Pulangi River.

Also, it was that after the river crossing, one has to walk or ride a horse for 30 minutes to reach the area, reported to be influenced by the New People’s Army (NPA).

“Both Zhydee and Ramil were inside the classroom when the shooting started. Zhydee was attending to something while Ramil was looking for some files,” the police chief said.

“The attackers introduced themselves as from the ‘bukid’ (mountain),” Sereñas noted.

The gunmen were looking for Ramil and when they saw him they started shooting at him, but he managed to duck under a table. Missing to shot him the assailant then shot at Cabañelez, hitting her foot twice and her shoulder twice. She is said to be in a stable condition now.