Lanao ambush leaves 14 dead, mayor hurt

ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines   â€“ Fourteen people were killed and eight others wounded in an ambush on the convoy of a Lanao del Norte town mayor last Thursday afternoon.

The military said 15 gunmen, reportedly identified with a rival clan, opened fire on the convoy of Nunungan Mayor Abdulmalik Manamparan and his supporters in a remote area between barangays Pantar and Malaig in the town at around 5 p.m.

Manamparan was grazed in the head by shrapnel and survived. But his daughter Adnina was among the fatalities, according to Col. Rodrigo Gregorio, spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom).

The other fatalities were identified as Baobi Bocua, Junahey Bantuas, Sammy Maruhom, Sadam Manamparan, Saiduna Mamantuc, Apipah Mamantuc, Malia Pandara, Lala Diamrang, Alinor Mamantuc, a certain Hamdan, a certain Titing, the mayor’s driver and his son.

Among the wounded were Police Officer 1 Frenel Laguting, Wilfredo Vega and Haniea Amerah Manamparan.

The mayor, 62, is on his last term and is running for vice mayor under the Nationalist People’s Coalition. He and his supporters had just attended a campaign rally in Barangay Malaig and were in three dump trucks when the convoy was strafed.

From the isolated ambush site, it took responding Army troops four hours to bring Manamparan to Iligan City where he was confined at the Mercy Hospital.

Brig. Gen. Daniel Lucero, commander of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, said troops have been deployed to go after the gunmen.

The military said the gunmen were led by a certain Kadie Hamin from barangay Kaludan and are known supporters of a political rival of Manamparan.

Nunungan has 11,483 registered voters this year and a population of 16,304 as of 2010.

Family feud

Lucero said they were also looking at the possibility that the ambush arose from rido or clan war in Nunungan.

He said the Army initiated moves late last year to settle clan differences without violence, but the initiative “apparently broke down during the campaign period.”

From his hospital bed, Manamparan said he had a good idea who was responsible for the attack but declined to elaborate.

Lanao del Norte police provincial director Senior Superintendent Gerardo Rosales said the survivors know the gunmen.

“They identified the attackers last night, they gave us names... they told us it was a family feud,” Rosales said. “The victims concluded that the attack was due to rido.”

He said police are checking the possible involvement of clans that have had previous fights with the Manamparan family.

Condemnation

Malacañang condemned the attack – the deadliest so far in a string of violent incidents that have marred campaigning for the May elections.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said authorities are attempting to establish the identities and motives of the attackers.

“We strongly condemn this act of violence,” Valte said. “We appeal to the supporters of the different candidates to keep calm and continue to campaign for their particular candidates.”

Officials said the ambush was the first big incident of political violence in Nunungan in the past year.

Nunungan, along with the predominantly Muslim areas of Mindanao, are blighted by occasional killings linked to rido.

Mindanao is also wracked by insurgencies waged by Islamic and communist rebels, and officials said some of this year’s election violence has been committed by the New People’s Army (NPA) extorting money from candidates.

Last Saturday, NPA rebels ambushed Gingoog City Mayor Ruth Guingona, the wife of former vice president Teofisto Guingona Jr., killing two of her aides and wounding her and two policemen.

Task force pulled out

Lanao del Norte is not among the “areas of concern” in the May 2013 elections.

The Commission on Elections, the Philippine National Police and Department of the Interior and Local Government earlier named 15 provinces being closely monitored as high-risk areas for political

violence.

These are Abra, Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Cagayan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Cavite, Batangas, Masbate, Samar, Misamis Occidental, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Basilan.

PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Generoso Cerbo Jr. said four provinces – Ilocos Norte, Northern Samar, Sulu and Zamboanga del Norte – are being assessed for possible inclusion in the list.

Among the issues considered for inclusion are the prevailing political situation, presence of armed groups and loose firearms.

A senior security official said the ambush in Nunungan could have been prevented if the Joint Task Force Pangil, a combined military and police contingent with security functions over Lanao del Norte and Misamis Oriental, had not been pulled out.

The security official, who asked not to be named, said the Army and police Special Action Force contingents were pulled out upon the request of an influential politician based in Northern Mindanao . – With Jaime Laude, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Alexis Romero