KIDAPAWAN CITY, (PNA) — Unidentified gunmen ambush a village chair of a remote village of Banisilan, North Cotabato Tuesday dawn, the military here said.
Tanat Salama, village chair of Barangay Salama, Banisilan, North Cotabato was ambushed in the village of Kitub in nearby Alamada town, also in North Cotabato.
Salama, who is seeking reelection in the October 28 barangay polls, was on board a motorcycle with another man, when about four gunmen who positioned on both sides of the highway opened fire using assault rifles.
North Cotabato Board member Kelly Antao, chair of the Sangguniang Panglalawigan peace and order committee, said Salama died while being rushed to a hospital in town’s Poblacion.
Salama was in the thick of preparations for his reelection bid as village chair, Antao said.
No one has claimed responsibility but police investigators believed it has something to do with the coming elections.
Captain Tony Bulao, spokesperson of the military’s 602nd Brigade, said Salama, an ethnic Maguindanao, was on his way to Barangay Kitub, also in Alamada.
He said the gunmen apparently had monitored the movement of the village chair.
Antao said Salama have asked the police to identify the ambushers and prosecute them.
Antao said he had called on Salama’s relatives to leave everything to the police and refrain from putting the law in their hands.
“Please let the police do their job, provide the police with the necessary information to help solve the murder of Salama,” Antao appealed to relatives.
Senior Supt. Danilo Peralta, North Cotabato police chief, has sent police peacekeepers to conflict-affected town of Alamada to prevent the escalation for Salama’s ambush.
Banisilan is a remote town located near the tri-borders of North Cotabato, Lanao del Sur and Bukidnon.