DAVAO CITY — Two unidentified gunmen shot dead the acting head of the provincial Environment and Natural Resources in Mati, capital town of Davao Oriental, shortly before noon last Thursday.

Lt. Colonel Randy Cabangbang, spokesman for the AFP’s Eastern Military Command, said Eulogio Baltazar, acting chief of the DENR in Davao Oriental, was slain at the Honey’s Restaurant in Barangay Matiao, Mati town shortly before noon Thursday.

He said that the gunmen who quickly barged inside the restaurant fled immediately after they shot Baltazar. They fled on board a motorcycle.

Mati policemen responded after they were informed about the shooting incident. However they failed to catch up with the suspects, Cabangbang said in a mobile phone interview.

A former trooper of the defunct Philippine Constabulary, now the Philippine National Police, Baltazar was known as a no-nonsense officer in enforcing the anti-illegal logging law in the province.

Provincial and town officials of Mati expressed disgust over the killing of Baltazar, saying that the incident was a big setback in their efforts to curb illegal logging in the area, a key factor which spawned deadly flashfloods in the province.