By Ali Macabalang
COTABATO CITY – A barangay chairman was killed in a gun attack on Thursday by motorcycle-riding attackers, less than 24 hours after another barangay official was killed in a separate ambush in Midsayap, North Cotabato.
According to the Midsayap Police Office (MPO), Sahabudin Mamisel Madendog, chairman of Barangay Nabalawag, died on the spot, while his companion Nashrudin Mamisel was wounded, when motorcycle-riding assailants fired at their vehicle past 7 a.m. along the highway in Barangay Tugal in Midsayap town.
According to MPO chief Joan Maganto, an investigation has been launched to dig deeper into the motive for the crime, as well as to identify those responsible for the attack.
A day before the attack on Madendog, Ahmad Kumayog, treasurer of Barangay Mudsing, also in Midsayap, was killed in another shooting incident that happened 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Kumayog, who was also a leader of the United Youth for Peace and Development (UNYPAD), was on his way home when he was reportedly riddled with gunfire by an unknown assailant.
He was also a member of the North Cotabato Composite Team of Civil Society Organizations (NCCT-CSO), a group that led the filing before the Commission on Election (Comelec) of petitions from 43 barangays in the province seeking inclusion in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) proposed under R.A. 11054.
R.A. 11054, also known as Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), is the enabling law of two major peace accords signed by the government with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in2013 and 2014.
NCCT-CSO Chairman Taher Solaiman called on police and other investigation authorities to track down the attackers of Kumayog and bring them to justice.