Lanao del Sur governor wounded in ambush

4 security escorts killed

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. survived an ambush despite being shot below the waist yesterday afternoon in Maguing town, but four of his escorts were killed.

Sources from units under the Philippines Army’s 103rd Brigade that covers Marawi City and nearby towns said Adiong’s convoy was attacked at 3:38 p.m. in a secluded and rough stretch of highway connecting Maguing to Wao town.

Col. Richard Verceles, operations chief of Area Police Command-Western Mindanao, said they learned of the incident only when Adiong and his party arrived at the Amai Manabilang Municipal Hall.

Members of a local terrorist group fashioned from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria are suspected of carrying out the attack, based on initial reports from the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office (PPO).

The PPO said Adiong and his companions, in separate vehicles, were on their way to Wao, Lanao del Sur when they received heavy fire.

Later, the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region confirmed Adiong was wounded in the right side of his body and that another of his aides, Ali Tabao, was hit in the foot.

Relatives of Adiong told reporters the governor has no known enemies and that his clan is not involved in any rido or family feud.

“He is not seriously wounded, but four of his companions were killed in the incident,” a cousin of the governor, also a politician, said.

The governor’s relatives provided selected reporters a video showing emergency responders helping him into an ambulance that transported him to a hospital in Kalilangan town, Bukidnon. –  Roel Pareño, Emmanuel Tupas