Bai Reshal Ampatuan. Photo by LGU - Datu Unsay social media account.
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao – Mayor Bai Reshal Santiago Ampatuan of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao passed away Friday afternoon due to cardiac arrest.
Ampatuan, 38, is the wife of detained former Mayor Andal “Datu Unsay” Ampatuan Jr., the primary suspect in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre. The lady mayor was reported to have collapsed while preparing to perform the Friday noon time prayer at the Datu Unsay town hall.
She was rushed by relatives and town hall workers to the Maguindanao provincial hospital at 12:40 p.m. but expired at abot 1 p.m. Her remains are now at the house of the late Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr in Barangay Poblacion, Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.
Brig. Gen. Diosdado Carreon, commander of 601st Infantry Brigade, said the Army provided security at the vicinity of the Ampatuan mansion where relatives, friends, local officials were paying last respect to the lady mayor ahead of the scheduled burial within the day.
The lady mayor was last seen in public during the visit of President Duterte in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, for the distribution of Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) to over 1,600 farmers. (PNA)
