NORTH COTABATO, Philippines — Gunmen shot dead a candidate for a provincial post in Maguindanao and her grandson in an ambush Sunday in Kabacan, North Cotabato.
Superintendent Aldrin Gonzalez, spokesman of Police Regional Office-12, said Susan Montawal and grandson Harris died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds.
Montawal was running for a seat on the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Maguindanao province.
Her husband, Mohalidin, is from the Montawal political clan in nearby Montawal town in Maguindanao, and is a close relative of the mayor and vice mayor there.
Gonzalez said Montawal and her grandson were in a van near the public market of Kabacan when gunmen shot at them. Two bystanders were wounded in the incident, now both confined in a hospital.
The shooters managed to escape before police and barangay watchmen could reach the scene.
Investigators said the ambush on Sunday could be related to a recent spate of deadly shooting incidents in Montawal town.