Maguindanao mayor's aide killed

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Suspected partisans gunned down a mayor’s executive aide and wounded two municipal councilors in an ambush in South Upi, Maguindanao yesterday.

The military, however, said renegade members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were responsible for the ambush, meant to force local officials in the area to shell out “protection money” to MILF commanders there.

Superintendent Danilo Bacas, spokesman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police, said fatality, Ismael Alam, and his companions, Jordan Ibrahim and Kadil Kusain, both incumbent members of the South Upi municipal council, were on their way to Cotabato City when the gunmen, positioned at one side of a highway, opened fire with shoulder-fired 40 MM grenade projectiles and automatic weapons.

The wounded councilors and their security escort named Ahmin Kusain managed to return fire, preventing their attackers from closing in.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said their intelligence operatives in South Upi have confirmed that the ambushers are rogue MILF members who have supported certain politicians during the previous elections in the area.

Relatives of the wounded councilors said they are convinced the ambush was politically motivated.

“It’s a known fact that some members of the MILF also work as mercenaries for certain people with vested interests,” Ponce said.

Bacas said their regional director, Chief Superintendent Bensali Jabarani, has ordered an extensive investigation on the incident to determine the real culprits and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.