Municipal election officer, husband killed in Maguindanao del Norte ambush

COTABATO CITY — Gunmen killed a municipal election officer and her husband in an ambush in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, on Wednesday morning, March 26.

The Moro lawyer Bai Maceda Abo, the election officer for Datu Odin Sinsuat under the Commission on Elections, and her husband, Datu Jojo Olea Abo, died from multiple bullet wounds sustained in an ambush.

Local officials and Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, confirmed the details to reporters about an hour after the incident. They explained that the victims were traveling in a Toyota Fortuner on their way to the town center of Datu Odin Sinsuat when they were attacked by gunmen stationed along the highway in Barangay Makir.

They were both declared dead on arrival at a hospital where emergency responders brought them for treatment.

Regional officials of the Comelec in the Bangsamoro region have condemned the incident and urged the police and local executives in Datu Odin Sinsuat to cooperate in identifying the culprits for prosecution.

Last Tuesday, March 25, men armed with assault rifles opened fire at a pick-up truck, owned by Mae Kris Sinsuat, in Barangay Bitu, Datu Odin Sinsuat, about 10 kilometers south of where the Abo couple were ambushed. 

Sinsuat, the chairperson of Barangay Niketan in Datu Odin Sinsuat, was in a separate vehicle following behind when the attack occurred.

Although no one was injured in the ambush, the gunshots echoed throughout the area, causing panic among villagers. The rifle shots damaged the windshield and doors of Sinsuat's Ford Raptor pick-up truck.