COTABATO CITY — A candidate for kagawad (village councilman) and his companion were killed after gunmen opened fire as their motorcycle passed by a secluded area in South Upi, Maguindanao del Sur on Sunday afternoon, police said.
Col. Roel Rullan Sermese, director of the Maguindanao del Sur provincial police, identified the fatalities as Zeraphi A. Omar, who was registered as a candidate in Barangay Biarong, South Upi, and his 32-year-old companion, Parato S. Mudzol. They were ambushed in Barangay Lamud and died on the spot.
Omar was the son of the incumbent barangay chairman in Biarong, Esmael D. Omar.
Mr. Sermese noted that the ambush happened a day after motorcycle-riding gunmen shot and killed Leonardo A. de Jesus, Jr., a third-termer kagawad in Barangay Poblacion, Datu Piang town in the same province. Both cases are now under investigation, he said. — John Felix M. Unson
