A man armed with a grenade launcher attempted bur failed to kill Mayor Akmad Mitra Ampatuan in Shariff Aguak in Mindanao on Sunday. It was the fourth attempt on the mayor’s life.
Based on a CCTV footage, at around 6:20 a.m., one of the suspects got out of a white van already armed with a grenade launcher and then fired at the black SUV carrying Ampatuan as it was turning right to a street in Barangay Poblacion. There were people present in the area when the attack took place.
The mayor suffered very minor injuries while his two companions were wounded and all of them are now stable, since according to his spokesman Anwar Kuit Emblawa, the mayor’s vehicle was an armored one.
According to Emblawa, the said attempt on the mayor’s life was already the fourth, the three previous ones having occurred in 2010, 2014 and 2019, prompting Ampatuan to begin using armored vehicles.
The first ambush took place in the Guindulungan town of Maguindanao del Sur, while the other two happened in Shariff Aguak.
On learning of the attack, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. assailed the violence and ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.
Usec. Claire Castro said the Philippine National Police and the Department of Interior and Local Government have been directed to conduct the probe and bring the suspects to justice.
