Source: Al Jacinto, Arab News, GMA News
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines -- Unidentified gunmen shot dead a gay salon owner in front of his horrified friends in the largely Muslim province of Sulu, about 950 kilometers south of Manila, police said Saturday.

Police said Romeo Lim, 25, the son of an army soldier, was killed while having dinner on a friend's house on Friday in the village of Asturias in Jolo town. He was shot several times and died instantly, said Inspector Usman Pingay, the town's chief of police.

"We still do not know the motives of the killing or who were behind the murder. We are still investigating the killing," he said.

He was killed exactly a week after the murder of another gay man in the same town, police said yesterday.

Lim's three friends who was with him during the murder had already been invited to shed light on the incident.

Pingay said initial investigation showed two gunmen were involved in the attack, but spared the victim's three friends.

Police said Lim, popularly known in Sulu by his alias "Aya Medel," the name of a sexy Filipino movie starlet, owns the Splash Beauty Salon in downtown.

"We are working hard on this case. We want to resolve this soon," Pingay said.

On March 16, Jai Jillang, said to be a gay, was reported stabbed and clubbed to death inside the police provincial headquarters in Jolo.

It was unknown whether the killings were connected, but homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Sulu and other provinces that make up the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Jolo is the capital of Sulu.

Full article: 2nd Gay Man Killed in S. Philippine Island in a Week | Arab News
Gay salon owner killed in Sulu | GMA News