Philippines: 14 killed in ambush on mayor

Manila: At least 14 people were killed in an ambush on the convoy of a mayor in the southern Philippines late on Thursday in political violence ahead of the May 13 elections.

12 people were killed on the spot while two more died on Friday. Nine people were wounded in the attack on the three-vehicle convoy of Mayor Abdul Malek Manamparan of Nanungan town in Lanao del Norte.

Manamparan survived, but his daughter Adnani Manamparan did not.

The attack on Manamparan’s convoy took place after the mayor’s group attended a political rally in the village of Maligalig.

Manamparan is contesting the elections for the post of vice-mayor while his son, who was not in the convoy, is seeking election as mayor of Nanungan under the political opposition Nationalist Peoples’ Coalition banner.

Authorities said the attack could have something to do with conflict among clans in the area, but the fact that the ambush happened during an election period makes it a subject of police interest, Lanao del Norte police provincial director Senior Superintendant Gerardo Rosales said.

Rosales said the police are closely watching Manamparan’s followers to prevent further violence while the army’s crack 1st Infantry Division is tracking down the attackers.

Attacks

Also on Thursday evening, two people were killed and a village head and her two companions wounded in an ambush in Bacoor City in Cavite province, south of Manila.

A report said that two men riding a motorcycle fired at Cathy Palabrica, a village chairperson, and her supporters.

Authorities are looking for a possible motive. Palabrica’s husband is a supporter of Mayor Edwin Bautista, known as Strike Revilla.

The attacks follow last week’s ambush on 74-year-old Mayor Ruthie Guingona of Guingoog City.

Guingona, wife of former vice-president Teofisto Guingona and mother of Senator Teofisto Guingona III, was on her way back to her district in Guingoog City after attending an event in Upper Kapitulangan on Saturday, when she and her convoy were ambushed by suspected members of the New Peoples’ Army (NPA).

Reports said the politician is not a candidate in the May mid-term 2013 polls.

Two of Guingona’s bodyguards died in the attack while the mayor was seriously wounded.

The spike in violence comes even as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) imposed a ban of the bearing, carrying or transporting of firearms ahead of the polls.