Gunmen mow down village chair in North Cotabato

FILE PHOTO

PIKIT, North Cotabato — Heavily armed men on Tuesday killed a village chair here as his horrified wife watched, authorities said.
Superintendent Bernard Tayong, speaking for the North Cotabato police office, identified the victim as Pecson Alang Mangansakan, 60, chair of Barangay Silik.
Tayong said Mangansakan and his wife, Marela, were heading for the town center at about 8 a.m. when their vehicle, a multicab, was flagged down by about four armed men near Barangay Ginatilan.
The police official said that even before Mangansakan could pull the vehicle to a stop, the armed men opened fire with high-powered firearms.
The victim’s wife was spared by the attackers, he said.
It was not clear if Mangansakan, who sustained multiple gunshot wounds, was armed.
Responding villagers rushed him to a hospital in Poblacion Pikit but was declared dead on arrival, according to Brig. Gen. Noel Clement, commander of the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade.
Clement said soldiers had been sent to the village to help the police run after the suspects.
Tayong said the police were investigating the incident.
The slain village official was the uncle of Vice Mayor Don Mangansakan, who will be running for mayor of Pikit.