UNICEF worker killed in southern Philippines

Manila - A Filipino worker with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was shot dead by an unidentified gunman in the southern Philippines, a police report said Friday. Police identified the victim as Nestor Bulahan, an employee of the UNICEF in Cotabato City, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Bulahan was shot by the lone gunman while waiting for a friend at a passenger terminal in nearby Parang town in Maguindano province, the police report said.

He was shot in the abdomen and died while being treated in a nearby hospital, the report added.

Investigators were still determining a motive for the killing, police said.

The shooting occurred despite heightened security in Maguindanao, where 57 civilians were killed in a massacre linked to a political rivalry in Ampatuan town.