N. Cotabato mayoral bet gunned down at gas stop

KIDAPAWAN CITY—A candidate for mayor in North Cotabato province was shot and killed by an unidentified man at a gas station in Wao town in nearby Lanao del Sur province on Thursday, police said.

Floro Allado, an independent candidate for mayor of Banisilan town, died from several bullet wounds in the body, said Supt. Bernard Tayong, North Cotabato provincial police spokesperson.

Allado, a former mayor, was on his way home to Banisilan from a trip to a still undetermined area when he was attacked at a gas station in Wao, 29 kilometers from Banisilan, at 1:30 p.m., said Insp. Judjie Barotas, Banisilan police chief.

Barotas said Allado ran and lost in the mayoral race in 2013.

Details of the attack remained sketchy. Barotas said Allado was traveling alone in his pickup truck.

The killer shot Allado at close range with a pistol, he said.

Allado was seeking the mayoral seat which his sister-in-law, Betty Allado, has been holding since 2010. He had survived several attempts to his life, including attacks by still unknown suspects in August 2000 and May 2013.

While serving as mayor in 2006, Allado was arrested in connection with the deaths of four people and wounding of five others in what he said was another attempt to kill him.

Allado had said the gunmen arrived in Barangay Poblacion I, the town center of Banisilan, and fired at him when he and civilian volunteers tried to arrest them for carrying firearms.

Jennifer Makalingkag, chair of Poblacion I, however, said the victims were traders and that it was Allado who had fired the first shot.

Allado was subsequently cleared of the charges. Williamor Magbanua and Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao