By Edwin Fernandez
COTABATO CITY – Police authorities in Maguindanao del Sur, backed by soldiers, have launched a manhunt against two assailants who fatally shot a reelected town councilor in Datu Piang on Wednesday, an official said Thursday.
The Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) said Councilor-elect Thong Mamasalanao Asim, 56, an agriculture businessman, sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital following the 3:45 p.m. attack.
“The gun attack occurred directly in front of the victim’s copra buy-and-sell business in Barangay Poblacion,” Lt. Col. Jopy Ventura, PRO-BAR spokesperson, was quoted in the PRO-BAR report as saying.
Initial police investigation indicated that two men wearing black shirts and dark glasses arrived at Asim’s copra buying station. They inquired about the prevailing buying price of copra before suddenly shooting Asim. The assailants then fled the scene on a motorbike.
In a statement, the Datu Piang town government condemned the attack on Asim.
“Councilor Asim was a dedicated public servant whose commitment to the welfare of his constituents was unwavering,” Datu Piang Mayor Victor Samama said.
Asim was Samama’s party mate in the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the political party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), in the May 12 midterm elections. He was reelected to his third and final term as municipal councilor.
The BJP-Maguindanao del Sur chapter also denounced the killing in a statement, characterizing it as “an attack not only on an individual but on the values of democracy, public service, and peace that we all strive to uphold. (PNA)
