WAYLAID. The multi-cab vehicle driven by Norodin Mama, MILF field commander, who was shot and killed along the East Cotabato Diversion Road in Cotabato City on Sunday (Oct. 13, 2024). A companion of Mama was wounded in the same incident. (Photo courtesy of Bandera FM-Cotabato)
COTABATO CITY – Unidentified assassins on board a motorbike shot and killed a field commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in this city around noon Sunday, police said.
Capt. Teofisto Ferrer, city police Station 2 commander, identified the fatality as Norodin Mama, a deputy commander of the MILF and a resident of Barangay Semba, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Sur.
Ferrer said Mama was driving a multi-cab (plate no. MAE 4169) on the Cotabato East Diversion Road going to Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte, when attacked.
“Initial information showed that the two suspects on board a motorbike coming from the opposite direction and without provocation shot Mama and his unidentified companion,” Ferrer said.
Mama was pronounced dead on arrival in the hospital, while his companion, who also sustained bullet wounds, remained under observation.
Police found empty shells for a 9mm pistol at the crime scene. Investigators have yet to determine the reason behind the attack.
Grenade attack
Meanwhile, unidentified suspects lobbed a fragmentation grenade in front of the office of Bangsamoro Member of Parliament Dr. Kadil Sinolinding Jr. at about 10 p.m. Saturday, also in this city.
Nobody was hurt in the incident in front of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority office of Sinolinding on Moon Street, Zenaida Subdivision, Barangay Rosary Heights.
“The incident could be work-related or has something to do with politics,” Sinolinding said in a message sent to reporters.
Sinolinding is also the head of the Ministry of Health in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
He has yet to confirm reports that he will seek a parliamentary seat in the inaugural BARMM elections in May 2025.
The filing of certificates of candidacy is set Nov. 4 to 9.