MAGUINDANAO, Philippines --- Suspected partisans gunned down a barangay councilor in Parang town after the latter performed obligatory nighttime prayer in a seaside mosque in Parang town in the province.
The victim, Nakir Basag, an ethnic Iranon Muslim, was on his way home from the worship site when gunmen, armed with M-16 assault rifles, blocked his path and opened fire, killing him on the spot.
Basag was known for his crusade for efficient barangay governance and against electoral fraud.
Basag was a member of the barangay council in Limbayan, a seaside district in Bongo Island, some six kilometers off Parang in the first district of Maguindanao.
He was one of five barangay councilors that had earlier filed a complaint of abuse of authority, mismanagement and habitual absenteeism against Allan Abo, chairman of Barangay Limbayan.
Parang Mayor Ibrahim Ibay, chairman of the municipal peace and order council, said the police investigators are now trying to determine the identities of the gunmen who killed Basag.
Basag campaigned for Ibay in Limbayan during the May 13 elections.
Basag organized and led his companions in the Limbayan barangay council to complain against Abo before Ibay’s office and the Parang municipal council.