Maguindanao del Sur mayor arrested for murder of town councilor
COTABATO CITY (PNA) – A municipal mayor in Maguindanao del Sur was arrested on Wednesday night, October 11, by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (CIDG-BARMM) after he was linked to the murder of a town councilor last April.

MAYOR Solayman Sandigan (in black jacket, center) of Datu Salibo, Maguindanao del Sur arrives at the CIDG office in Cotabato City after his arrest in his hometown on Wednesday night, October 11. Sandigan was linked to the murder of Datu Salibo Councilor Demsom Silongan on April 17, 2023. (PNA/ Ferdinand Cabrera of Kutangbato News)
Mayor Solayman Sandigan of Datu Salibo did not resist arrest when law enforcers presented him with the warrant of arrest issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 15 in Cotabato City.
The CIDG, backed by Datu Piang municipal police office personnel and the military’s 601st Infantry Brigade, served the warrant at around 7 p.m. in his home in Datu Piang.
Sandigan was linked to the April 17, 2023 murder of Datu Salibo Municipal Councilor Demsom Silongan.
Silongan, 50, had just alighted from his pickup truck that time to attend a session at the town’s Sangguniang Bayan building when shot dead by a gunman.
The councilor’s driver, John Madzig, was injured in the incident.
Sandigan denied the charges and insisted he was innocent of the crime.
Following his arrest, Sandigan was brought to the CIDG detention facility in this city.
The court recommended no bail for the mayor’s arrest. Four other individuals who were listed in the warrant of arrest with Sandigan have voluntarily surrendered, according to the CIDG-BARMM.