TAYUG – One farmer was killed and two others wounded in a shootout that happened in barangay Panganiban here on Palm Sunday over scanty irrigation water for the farms this summer.

The lone fatality was identified as Ronnie Ato who was hit when his brother-in-law, Modesto Tolete and Arturo Olara, a barangay councilman, exchanged gunfires after an argument over their rights for irrigation water.

Both Tolete and Olara were wounded, however, and rushed to separate hospitals in Tayug for treatment.

The scanty water was spawned by prolonged drought brought about by the El Niño phenomenon that has lingered since the start of the year.

The farmers draw their irrigation water from the Upper Agno River Irrigation System. (PNA).