COTABATO CITY -- Authorities have launched a manhunt against the assassins of a former vice mayor of Maguindanao in Tacurong City on Friday night.
Tacurong City Police Director Supt. Joefil Siason said Roger Mamalo, 63, former vice mayor of Sultan sa Barongis in Maguindanao, was pronounced dead on arrival at the city’s St. Louis Hospital following an 8:30 p.m. ambush.
The victim, who had a house in Tacurong, was driving his car along Barangay New Isabela heading for home when fired upon by two men using .45-caliber pistols.
“Witnesses said the gunmen were seen in the area minutes before as if waiting for someone to pass by,” Siason said over a radio interview here Saturday.
As the former official’s car was approaching, they opened fire then quickly fled on a motorbike, he added.
Responding policemen rushed the bloodied victim to the hospital but he was declared dead by attending physicians.
Siason said the shooting could be due to personal grudge or a case of mistaken identity but relatives claimed Mamalo had no known enemies.
“He has retired from politics, he had no enemies,” a relative said in a separate radio interview.
Siason said the identities of the killers and the real motive behind the attack are still being determined.
Recovered empty shells and slugs of the guns used in the attack are being subjected to ballistic examination by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. (PNA)
