Barangay exec dies instantly as falling tree strikes motorcycle

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A motorcycle-riding barangay chairman died on the spot when a large dead tree along a highway fell on his head on Friday in Midsalip town in Zamboanga del Sur.

In a statement released on Saturday morning, the Midsalip Municipal Police Station said Jessie Seno Sandima, chairman of Barangay Ecuan, died instantly while his companion, the motorcycle owner Engineer Dome Capangpangan, was seriously wounded in the incident.

Capangpangan was driving his motorcycle, with Sandima seated behind, at a stretch of a highway in Purok 3 in Barangay Canipay Norte in Midsalip when the dead tree along the route fell and hit them both. 

The Midsalip MPS said the tree hit Sandima's head, causing his instant death. 

Barangay Ecuan in Midsalip, where Sandima was elected barangay chairman during the Oct. 30, 2023 synchronized barangay and local elections, is not too distant from the scene of the strange accident that resulted in his death.