Radio anchor slain

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A radio anchor, who was also an Islamic preacher, was killed in a gun attack in this city on Monday.

Mohammad Hessam Midtimbang, 32, host of a Bangsamoro Darul Ifta radio program aired on Gabay Radio 97.7 FM, was about to board his Nissan Almera parked along Governor Gutierrez Avenue when a man appeared from behind and shot him several times.

Midtimbang was a member of the Bangsamoro Darul Iftah also known as the House of Opinions, an Islamic advisory council under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, BARMM police director, said an investigation is underway.

Presidential Task Force on Media Security executive director Paul Gutierrez said the PTFoMS has coordinated with the police and military to investigate the killing.

“Pending the result of the investigation as to the motive for the attack, we consider this as related to the work of the victim as a radio anchor,” Gutierrez said.

Midtimbang’s father, Guidzuri, is the administrator of the Cotabato city government. His brother Wahab is a city councilor.

The killing came a week after a grenade attack on the residence of former Commission on Elections chairman Shariff Abbas.

On the same day, the head of the general services office of the city government, Pedro Tato Jr., was wounded in an ambush that left his driver Dandy Anonat dead.