A woman labor officer was shot by a gunman on a motorcycle in Malate, Manila Monday afternoon.

Dead was Ellen Dacanay, who was assigned at the Department of Labor and Employment ( DOLE) field office in Manila.

In a statement, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said they are disturbed over the assault.

"I condemn in the strongest terms the dastardly killing of labor officer Ellen Dacanay assigned at the Manila field office of the Department," said Bello.

"It is disturbing that a civilian official was murdered in a cowardly manner akin to executions by hired guns," he added.

"I join the officialdom of the Labor Department in condoling with her family on their tragic loss," he said.

Bello appealed to law enforcement groups to arrest the perpetrators. DMS