North Cotabato town mayor survives gun attack

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines — Mayor Christopher Cuan of Libungan town in this province was unhurt in a gun attack yesterday that left his aide wounded.

Cuan was in the lobby of the municipal hall when a man in a white van opened fire.

His aide Alejandro Catulong, 57, was hit in the chest and brought to the Cotabato Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Senior Inspector Onofre Julian, Libungan police chief, said the van sped off toward Midsayap.

Onofre said probers are trying to identify the gunman and the motive for the attack.

Cuan, who is on his first term, is seeking reelection in the May polls. He is among the politicians in President Duterte’s narco list.

In 2016, the raid on Cuan’s house yielded negative for illegal drugs, but he was arrested after several guns and ammunition were recovered.

Cops kill 2 drug suspects

In Laguna, police said Rodel Lacerna was killed in a shootout with an anti-narcotics agent who posed as a buyer of shabu in Barangay San Gabriel, San Pablo on Sunday.

Senior Superintendent Eleazar Matta, Laguna police director, said Lacerna was a known drug pusher and tagged in criminal activities in the city.

John Paul Verallo allegedly drew his gun when he sensed he had transacted with undercover agents in a sting in Barangay Longos, Pulilan, Bulacan yesterday.

Police said they recovered sachets of shabu, marked money and the guns used by the fatalities.

In Zamboanga City, 10 sachets of shabu weighing 50 grams each with an estimated street value of P3.4 million were recovered from “high-value” suspects Majannang Ahadani Umbang, 51, and her son Junjun Barlie also yesterday.

Jacquelyn de Guzman, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency director in Zamboanga peninsula, said the suspects sold a pack of shabu worth P900,000 in a sting along Raja Soliman street. 

3 slain in shootings

Meanwhile, three persons, including a barangay councilman, were shot dead in South Cotabato, Cagayan and Camarines Sur in the past two days.

Franklin Suyu, 22, a resident of Barangay Camasi, Peñablanca, was shot by motorcycle-riding men in Barangay Alimanao, Tuguegarao, Cagayan.

Chief Inspector Joefferson Gannaban, Peñablanca police chief,  said the victim had been tagged in robberies and was being investigated for his possible links to illegal drugs.

Dima Macaludos, 45, kagawad of Barangay Lumakil in Polomolok, was driving his motorcycle with his wife when they were waylaid. He died at the scene. His wife Rohaina, 45, was wounded and remains confined in a hospital.

In Camarines Sur, Sgt. Benito Bien was with  barangay captain Tonyben Tabalde and village watchman Mario Ibanita at the wake of a neighbor in Barangay De la Fe in Buhi when unidentified men opened fire.

Bien died from a gunshot wound to the head. Tabalde and Ibanita were wounded. – With Emmanuel Tupas, Non Alquitran, Ed Amoroso, Raymund Catindig, Ramon Efren Lazaro,  Roel Pareño