MUTE WITNESS. The motorcycle that ambush-slay victims Paitin Lando, 53, and his son Naron Mulod, 18, boarded lie in the middle of the highway in Barangay Lower Glad, Midsayap, North Cotabato on Wednesday (June 17, 2020). Police are pursuing the angle of a long-drawn feud by the victim’s family with another clan as a possible motive behind the incident. (Photo courtesy of Midsayap MPS)
COTABATO CITY – A Maguindanao village official and his son were killed while another was wounded in an ambush in the North Cotabato town of Midsayap on Wednesday.
Lt. Col, John Miridel Calinga, Midsayap municipal police chief, said police and elements of the Army’s 34th Infantry Battalion have launched a manhunt to get the perpetrators of the the incident.
Calinga identified the victims as Paitin Lando, 53, a village official of Datu Piang, Maguindanao, and his 18-year-old son, Noron Mulod. They both instantly died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Injured was Sued Kalambo, 21, driver of the motorbike hired by Lando and his son.
Responding police found empty shells from M-16 and M-14 assault rifles at the crime scene in Barangay Lower Glad in Midsayap.
“The attack could be related to a ‘rido’ involving the village official’s family and that of the ambushers,” Calinga said.
Police said the victims were heading to Midsayap at about 5 p.m. when flagged down and strafed by gunmen beside the highway in Barangay Lower Glad.
Citing witnesses, police said the gunmen fled toward Datu Piang, Maguindanao following the incident. (PNA)
