Libungan, Cotabato mayor shot dead

COTABATO CITY - The mayor of Libungan, Cotabato and his driver were shot dead on Monday morning in Barangay Cabayuran.

Mayor Christopher "Amping" Cuan, 46, died due to multiple gunshot wounds along with his driver Edwin Navarro Ihao, 36.

Cuan and his driver came from Davao City and were visiting his cockpit arena under construction when about four armed men on board a blue SUV arrived and opened fire using high-powered firearms, Cotabato Police said.

“Initial reports we received from the local police [said] they were tailed by the assailants then suddenly shot several times using different unidentified long firearms,” Police Lieutenant April Rose Soria, spokesperson of Cotabato Provincial Police Office, said.

Cuan, who was on the narco list of President Rodrigo Duterte, has earlier survived an assassin's bullet on January 8, 2019 inside the newly constructed town hall.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Cotabato called for a speedy and thorough investigation into the mayor's killing.

“I condemn to the strongest term the killing of Mayor Cuan. His demise has orphaned not only his family but his constituents who looked up to him for his leadership,” Cotabato Vice Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza said. —KG, GMA News