'Doctor to the Barrios' volunteer shot dead in Lanao del Norte

Dr. Dreyfuss Perlas, a native of Aklan but chose to serve in Lanao del Norte, was killed by still unidentified assailant.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - The young municipal doctor in the town of Kapatagan, Lanao Del Norte was shot dead Wednesday night, a police report reaching here Thursday said.

Police identified the fatality as Dr. Dreyfuss Perlas, 30, a native of Aklan province. He was shot dead by unidentified gunmen just after having dinner near his rented house in Kapatagan.

The witnesses told the police that they did not hear any gun fire, but noticed that the doctor suddenly fell while standing after eating his dinner.

The police who investigated the incident reported of a gunshot wound on the victim’s chest, which could be the cause of his death.

The police said they are still looking into the motive of the killing as the municipal government ordered a manhunt of the killers.




Perlas started as a village “volunteer doctor” of the Department of Health (DOH) under the Doctor to the Barrios program in 2013 in Lanao Del Norte.

He is originally from Batan, Aklan, but he chose to serve in Lanao Del Norte. When his contract expired, he had the option to go home to fill the vacancy of a needed physician in his hometown, but he chose to stay in Sapad because he saw the need.

It was only recently that Perlas was promoted as the DOH’s regular health worker following his appointment as the municipal doctor of Kapatagan.




The medical community mourned the death of one of the most efficient and honest public servants who left the opportunities in the urban centers in order to serve the less fortunate in the country’s impoverished villages.

“The DOH deplores this act of violence. We lost a worthy public servant at a time when there is greater need for their unselfish dedication to duty,” DOH said in a statement.

Perlas graduated from West Visayas State University (WVSU) College of Medicine in Iloilo City in 2011. [via PNA]