Ex-Zambo mayor killed in ambush

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A former town mayor in Zamboanga Sibugay was killed while his wife and granddaughter were critically wounded in an ambush here before noon yesterday, authorities said.

Chief Inspector Elmer Acuña, chief of Police Station 6 here, said Arsenio Climaco, former mayor of Tungawan town, his wife Helen, and their three-year-old granddaughter Shirly Mar Climaco Akibol, along with two other minors, were cruising the Maria Clara Lorenzo Lobregat Highway in North Site Barangay Tetuan aboard an SUV when motorcycle-riding men fired at them.

Police said the gunmen could have tailed Climaco’s vehicle and pulled off the attack when the former mayor slowed down in an intersection.

Two empty shells believed fired from a .45-caliber pistol were found at the scene.

The victims were rushed to a nearby hospital where Climaco died more than an hour later.

Journalist Jimmy Villaflores, who passed by the scene minutes after the shooting, rushed Climaco’s wife and granddaughter to the hospital after no one came to their aid. 

Acuña said probers have not ruled out any motive, including politics.