Mayoral candidate in May polls shot dead in Sultan Kudarat

Edgar Lucero ran for mayor in the May 2019 elections. (Photo from his Facebook account)

COTABATO CITY, Maguindanao, Philippines – A mayoral candidate in Lambayong town in Sultan Kudarat in the elections last May was shot dead on Saturday, July 13, in his hometown, police said Sunday.

Lt. Col. Aldrin Gonzales, speaking for the police in the Soccsksargen region, said Edgar Lucero, 53, was on a motorcycle with his two children when repeatedly shot as they were traveling along the national highway in Barangay Didtaras in Lambayong at around 9:30 a.m.

Gonzales said Lucero and his children just came from nearby Tacurong City and were heading home when shot from behind by assailants, who were also on a motorcycle.

He had five gunshot wounds in the head and body and died instantly. His children were spared by the gunmen, Gonzales said.

His family said Lucero had been receiving death threats in the past months, but he ignored them, saying he had no enemies.

Lucero, a resident of Barangay Namnama in Lambayong, ran as an independent in the May polls but lost to the now incumbent Mayor Ferdinand Agduma.

Agduma immediately condemned the killing and asked the police to dig deeper into the killing and find the culprits.

Lucero and Agduma, while they ran against each other in the last polls, remained good friends, according to Lucero’s relatives. Both belonged to the ruling PDP-Laban party.