Mangudadatu's staff killed in gun attack

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Two men riding a motorcycle in tandem shot dead on Friday a senior staff of Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu in a daring attack at a busy thoroughfare in Cotabato City.

Engineer Sadat Pandalat, 48, was to fetch his children from a private school along Sinsuat Avenue when the suspects pulled over beside his car and shot him with caliber .45 handguns.

Senior Supt. Rolen Balquin, city police director, said Pandalat, an employee of the provincial planning and development office of the Maguindanao provincial government, died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds.

Balquin said the gunmen sped away after seeing the engineer slump on the steering wheel.

Mangudadatu has condemned the murder of Pandalat and urged the police to identify and prosecute his killers.

Pandalat was the third fatality in a series of gun attacks in Cotabato City in the past four days.