North Cotabato vice mayor killed in ambush

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – A re-electionist vice mayor in North Cotabato was killed in an ambush Friday afternoon, two days before the implementation of a nationwide gun ban, which takes effect today, the start of the 120-day election period.

Kabacan Vice Mayor Policronio Dulay, 70, was coming out from a department store along Maria Clara street when two men riding on motorcycle shot him with caliber .45 pistols, according to Superintendent Leo Ajero, chief of the Kabacan municipal police.

Dulay’s bid for a second term as vice mayor of Kabacan is being challenged by Datumaidu Sultan, an ethnic Maguindanaon.

Ajero said investigators are looking into politics as the motive for the killing of Dulay.

The North Cotabato police yesterday created Task Force Dulay to oversee the investigation on the killing of the vice mayor. 

Relatives of Dulay have also asked the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to help determine the identities of the killers.

Dulay, a retired policeman, first served as councilor for three consecutive terms before he was elected vice mayor in 2010.

The incident preceded the fatal ambush of Rowena Lu Sangki, 40, a senior staff of the social welfare department in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Sangki was riding a tricycle on her way to Cotabato City from their office in Semba area in Datu Odin Sinsuat town when two motorcycle-riding men blocked her path shot her.

A passenger identified only as Rahima was wounded in the attack. She was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Police probers theorized that the killing of Sangki could be work related.

ARMM acting Gov. Mujiv Hataman has ordered the regional police office to help the municipal police of Datu Odin Sinsuat to investigate the incident.