Lanao barangay chief killed

MARAWI CITY, Philippines – A barangay chairman from a Lanao del Sur town was killed while his wife was wounded early yesterday morning here when two motorcycle-riding men waylaid their vehicle in a busy street and fired shots at the couple.

Lanao del Sur officer-in-charge police director Superintendent Cosani Derogongan said initial reports showed that the victim, Mamarinta Polao, a barangay chairman from Bacolod-Kalawi town, in Lanao del Sur, and his wife were on board their service vehicle that was cruising Osmana street, Bangolo district here when two unidentified motorcycle-riding men waylaid their vehicle and fired shots at the couple.

The barangay chairman was killed on the spot, while his wife, whose identity was not immediately known, was reportedly wounded, according to the initial report. 

Derogongan said the police is conducting investigation to determine the identity of the assailants and establish the motive of the attack.

The attack on the barangay chairman comes after a spate of killings in the past three weeks following the celebrated kidnapping of Nuraldin Yusoph, a son of Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Elias Yusoph, which alarmed local authorities.

This was followed by the ambush in Poona Bayabao, early this week by a lawless group led by Dimaporo Maniri Dimasacal, alias Delta, on a group of soldiers from the Philippine Army’s 51st Infantry Battalion where one soldier was killed and at least four others were wounded. 

In the Army’s pursuit operation the other day, they caught up with the group and engaged them in a firefight where the notorious leader, Dimasacal was killed.

The Army’s 103rd Brigade commander, Brigadier General Rey Ardo said the ambush was a diversionary tactic of Dimasacal to stop the Army in its pursuit operation against the group.

Earlier this month, following Yusoph’s kidnapping, Western Mindanao Command commander Major General Ben Dolorfino, visited this city and urged local leaders and law enforcement agencies to hasten the safe recovery of the kidnap victim and take immediate measures to contain lawlessness now prevailing in the area.