Poll officer killed in Sultan Kudarat attack

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — An election officer was killed in an attack by unidentified assailants in President Quirino, Sultan Kudarat on Saturday afternoon.

John Nico Allan Pandoy, assistant election officer of Isulan town, died at the scene of the incident that occurred in Barangay Poblacion, according to Maj. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, acting chief of the Western Mindanao Command.

The local office of the Commission on Elections condemned the incident and urged police to identify and arrest the killers.

Meanwhile, in General Santos City, gubernatorial aspirant Gladden Selidio Lim was wounded in an attack by motorcycle-riding men in Barangay City Heights.

Lim was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds in the abdomen. He is running for governor of Sarangani in the 2025 midterm elections.

Probers have yet to determine the motive for the attack.