Son of dad linked to blast gunned down

COTABATO CITY — Ski mask-wearing men shot dead the other night a son of a councilor tagged as the alleged mastermind of the Jan. 4 bombing of a basketball game in Parang, Maguindanao that left 22 people dead and 71 others wounded.

Police said the victim, Titingan Katab, son of re-electionist Parang councilor Abdul Katab, who has been in hiding since the bombing, died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds.

The victim was reportedly playing cards with his friends in Barangay Miramar when he was shot with 9-mm. pistols. The gunmen fled in a brown Isuzu Highlander.

Parang officials said they are convinced that the relatives of one of those killed in the bombing could be behind the murder.

Most of the fatalities in the Jan. 4 blast were Iranon Muslims, who are known to be vengeful to anyone who would transgress their clan’s maratabat, or pride and honor.

The elder Katab is a known political adversary of Parang’s re-electionist mayor, Vivencio Bataga, who was himself seriously wounded in the bombing.