A police officer and relatives of passengers of a red Toyota Innova view the ill-fated vehicle after it was ambushed on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 in Marogong, Lanao del Sur. Two died and three, including a vice mayoral candidate, were hurt in the ambush. —PNP photo
COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines — An aspirant for vice mayor in Malabang town of Lanao del Sur, was injured along with two others and two retired policemen were killed in an ambush on Saturday, the latest incident of gun attacks in Mindanao.
The victims were on board a private Toyota Innova heading towards Malabang town when they were waylaid by still unidentified gunmen along the dirt road of Barangay Paigoay Coda of Marogong town at 4 p.m., the police said.
Killed in the ambush were Solaiman Alibasa and Hadji Asrap Sandab, both retired police and residents of Malabang, said Lt. Col. Jopy Ventura, speaking for the Police Regional Office Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
Ventura said the injured were Ramil Bao, a candidate for vice mayor of Malabang under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas; and Sanaoray Alibasa and Sarpia Mangayao.
READ: Lanao del Sur village aspirant slain by rival-brother
Police from the adjoining towns of Marogong and Malabang rushed the injured to the hospital for treatment.
Still unsolved
The incident came barely two weeks after a municipal election officer was shot dead in Salvador town of Lanao del Norte.
Mark Orlando Vallecer II, 51, the acting election officer of Nunungan town in Lanao del Norte but a resident of Cagayan de Oro City, died of multiple gunshots wounds in the head fired by still unidentified assailants while he was driving his vehicle in Barangay Curva of Salvador town at 2:28 p.m. on Nov. 25.
Two days before Vallecer was killed, the election officer of a town in Sultan Kudarat province was shot dead while a candidate for governor in Sarangani was injured in separate attacks only minutes apart.
John Nico Pandoy, the assistant election officer of Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, but detailed as acting election officer of President Quirino town, was shot dead at 6 p.m. of Nov. 23 while driving his motorbike on his way to his residence in President Quirino.
About 20 minutes later, Lawyer Gladden Lim, 48, a gubernatorial aspirant in Sarangani, survived a gun attack inside the church compound of the Seventh Day Adventist in General Santos City.
These incidents were yet to be solved. —reports from Richel Umel, Edwin O. Fernandez, Drema Q. Bravo, Allen Estabillo and Leah Agonoy