Former mayor slain in ambush
ZAMBOANGA CITY—A former mayor of Tungawan town in Zamboanga Sibugay was killed while his wife and grandson were critically wounded when they were ambushed on Thursday noon.
Chief Inspector Elmer Acuna, chief of the Tetuan police station, said former Mayor Arsenio Fortich Climaco was driving his car along San Bernardino Bridge in Guiwan here when armed men on a motorcycle fired on it.
Climaco, 60, was hit in the head. His wife, Helen, and grandson, Shalimar Apidol, 9, were also hit in the head. Shalimar was celebrating his birthday when the shooting happened.
Police are still investigating the motive for the attack.
The killing happened on the 29th commemoration of the death of former Zamboanga City Mayor Cesar C. Climaco.
Mayor Isabelle Climaco Salazar said that although the victims were not related to the Climacos of this city, she still felt bad because “the manner how the former Tungawan mayor was killed was similar to how my uncle, Cesar, was killed.”
Article continues after this advertisement“He was hit by bullets in the face and neck,” said the mayor.
This city has yet to recover from attacks by followers of Moro leader Nur Misuari who occupied the city and were driven out in a government assault.
