De Lima: NBI has identities of 2 airport ambush suspects

MANILA, Philippines - The two suspects in the daring Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) ambush last Friday have been identified by the police, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Monday.

De Lima said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) already have names of the gunman and his companion, who fled the scene on a motorcycle after the killing of Labangan,Zamboanga del Sur Mayor Ukol Talumpa, his wife, their nephew and a one-year-old child.

Read: Mayor, baby, 2 others dead in NAIA attack

Refusing to reveal the identities of the suspects, De Lima said investigators are eyeing the possibility of Mindanao drug syndicates to be behind the attack outside the arrival area of NAIA's Terminal 3.

De Lima said that the Nandang Malako Afdal, a powerful drug syndicate, enjoyed political protection in the province with members also involved in politics.

Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Antonio Cerilles similarly said in a television interview last Saturday that Talumpa, who survived two previous murder attempts, made enemies from his campaign against the province's illegal drug trade.

Cerilles claimed that Talumpa's political foes, former mayors Wilson "Kitty" Nandang and Abubakar Afdal y Abdul Karim were suspected to be major players in the drug trade in the area.

"Si Ukol Talumpa ay malakas ang advocacy niya laban sa droga. Palagay ko yung mga taong gusto siya mawala ay mga taong gustong lumaganap ang droga dito sa aming lalawigan," Cerilles said. -- with a report from Edu Punay

Related: Filipinos slam NAIA's 'poor' security after daring ambush