Another Central Mindanao barangay exec dies in ambush

COTABATO CITY — Unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen shot dead another barangay chairman in Central Mindanao on Monday afternoon, barely a day after the fatal ambush of another chairman in an attack that also left the latter's wife dead.

Amado Serra Jr., chairman of Barangay Laguilayan in Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat province, was driving his pick-up truck en route to a market from his office when men on motorcycles trailing behind shot him repeatedly as they got close.

Officials of the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Police Office told reporters on Tuesday morning that the killers of Serra immediately fled after they killed the victim with pistols in a stretch of a road in Barangay Laguilayan.

The gun attack that resulted in Serra’s death was preceded by Sunday night’s fatal ambush of Esmael Mustapha, chairman of Barangay Bulibod in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte in Bangsamoro region, and his wife Rahima.

Mustapha and his spouse were walking together in an unlit street in Barangay Bulibod when men armed with assault rifles, positioned along the route, opened fire, killing them both on the spot.

The mayor of Sultan Kudarat, Datu Tucao Mastura, has offered an earnest reward to any informant who can help police investigators identify the culprits behind what is for him a premeditated murder of the couple.

Officials of the Sultan Kudarat Municipal Police Station and the Maguindanao del Norte Provincial Police Office told reporters the slain Mustapha was known for his hardline policy in dealing with constituents involved in trafficking of narcotics.