Police still looking for leads in Maguindanao cop slay

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines  – Investigators are still looking for leads  on Friday’s fatal ambush of the police chief of the troubled Kabuntalan town in Maguindanao.

The victim, Inspector Tiongan Namla, 40, was riding his motorcycle on his way to Cotabato City when gunmen on board a pick-up truck trailing behind shot him with assault rifles while in a secluded stretch of a national highway in Maguindanao’s Datu Odin Sinsuat town.

Senior Inspector Datu Tulon Pinguiaman, chief of the Datu Odin Sinsuat municipal police, said Namla died instantly from gunshot wounds.

“We are still investigating the incident,” Pinguiaman said.

Pinguiaman said investigators are still trying to determine if the ambush could have stemmed from an old grudge, or was work-related.

“I knew him as a sensible police officer. We belong to the same batch when we joined the Philippine National Police as officers through the PNP’s lateral entry process,” Pinguiaman said.

The incident came amid the continuing merry-making by sectors in the province in celebration of Thursday’s signing by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.