Manila, Philippines - A priest from a small Christian sect was fatally shot and stabbed in the southern Philippines, police said Monday.
Three unidentified men barged early Sunday into the house of Father Dionisio Guingging, 53, of the Filipinista church in Surigao del Sur province's Tago town, stabbing and shooting him several times, police Chief Superintendent Antonio Nanas said.
Nanas, the regional police chief, said a personal grudge may have been a possible motive.
"It appears the killers hated the priest with the way they killed him," he added.
Guingging's death comes barely a week after unidentified men fatally stabbed Bishop Alberto Ramento of the Philippine Independent Church in northern Tarlac province.
Ramento was a human rights activist and vocal critic of the government. Left-wing groups claim his murder was part of a string of political killings in the country.
It was not immediately clear if Guingging was part of any activist group.
Police have filed robbery and homicide charges against four men who have confessed to robbing and killing Ramento. But the Philippine Independent Church and local human rights group Karapatan remain skeptical, accusing police of hastily dismissing the slaying as robbery with homicide to downplay suspicions it was politically motivated.