2 die, mayor survives in Kabunsuan ambush

COTABATO CITY - A relative of a mayor in Shariff Kabunsuan province and one of the ambushers were killed in an attack by unknown men, three days before the May 14 midterm elections. Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, police director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said that at about 9:30 p.m. Friday, undetermined number of armed men opened fire on Kabuntalan reelectionist mayor Salaban Diocolano, who was on board a Pajero vehicle with four others at the vicinity of Upper Taviran village. Kabuntalan is a 5th class municipality of the newly formed Shariff Kabunsuan that was carved out of the ten municipalities comprising the first district of the province of Maguindanao. Nards Diocolano, the vehicle’s driver, and a relative of the mayor, was killed on the spot. Mayor Diocolano sustained gunshot wounds, while his three escorts identified as police officers Salendab Uttoh and Sammy Diocolano, and a certain Usman, also a policeman, sustained minor injuries Goltiao said that after a brief shootout, one of the attackers, Galo Anta, was found dead. Anta's M-16 rifle was recovered by responding policemen at the ambush site. "There was a brief state for fire. That's why one of the ambusher was killed. Our initial finding showed that it's something to do with the upcoming elections but still we need more concrete evidence," Goltiao said. Diocolano was out of danger and was discharged from Notre Dame Hospital, where he was brought after the attack. Rivalries among political clans, competition for lucrative public office seats and a trigger-happy culture have made elections violent affairs in Mindanao, particularly in the ARMM region that covers the provinces of Maguindanao, Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-tawi, Shariff Kabunsuan, Lanao del Sur and Marawi City. - GMANews.TV