Zamboanga del Sur vice mayor ambushed in Ermita

MANILA, Philippines – A Zamboanga del Sur town vice mayor and his bodyguard were wounded in an ambush at past noon in Ermita, Manila yesterday.

Labangan town Vice Mayor Ocol Talumpa, 46, was rushed to the Medical Center Manila for gunshot wounds in the left shoulder and left leg, while Alimudin Silad, 40, was wounded in the right hip. Both are under observation at the same hospital.

Senior Police Officer 3 Benjamin Madriaga said Talumpa was driving a silver Toyota Vios along Leon Guinto street at around 1:15 p.m. when the ambush happened.

Inside the car were his bodyguard and two children, Rayan, 20, and Raysa, 14. The family was reportedly going to a mall to shop in preparation for their hajj to Mecca.

Madriaga said a gunman fired several shots at the vehicle, hitting Talumpa and his bodyguard. Talumpa’s children were unhurt. Though wounded, Talumpa reportedly managed to fire back at the gunman with his .45 caliber pistol but missed.

The gunman reportedly escaped on a motorcycle driven by a cohort, who witnesses said was seen waiting near a drugstore along Apacible street.

Police recovered seven shells, three slugs and four bullets from a .45 caliber pistol at the site of the ambush. The car’s right window and front windshield were shattered.

Ermita police station chief Superintendent Frumencio Bernal, who rushed to the ambush site, said the attacker was an amateur gun for hire. “From my interview with the witnesses, the gunman seemed to be nervous and panicky,” Bernal said.

Talumpa and his children had just come from the office of Raysa Recruitment Agency, owned and operated by his wife along Leon Guinto street, when the ambush occurred.

Police are initially eyeing politics and business rivalry as possible motives for the ambush. “My investigators will question the victim’s wife and the victim himself as soon as he becomes stable,” Bernal said.

Police are preparing a sketch of the gunman, based on the description provided by witnesses.