Mayor’s husband killed in Lanao del Sur shooting

COTABATO CITY — Gunmen shot and killed the 60-year-old husband of the mayor of Lumbaca-Unayan town in Lanao del Sur in an attack on Wednesday, February 26.

Senior officials of the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office and local executives separately told reporters on Thursday, February 27, that Abdulazis Tadua Aloyodan was standing outside of their house in the town center of Lumbaca-Unayan when armed men in a vehicle pulled over close to him and opened fire, killing him instantly.

Aloyodan’s spouse, Jamaliah Dimatunday Aloyodan, is the current mayor of Lumbaca-Unayan. The slain Abdulazis Tadua Aloyodan had also served as mayor of the municipality before his wife was elected to the same post in 2022.

The killers of Aloyodan quickly fled the scene amidst the commotion caused by the gunshots, which echoed through the area, not far from the Lumbaca-Unayan town hall.

Gov. Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr., chairman of the multi-sector Lanao del Sur Provincial Peace and Order Council, condemned the incident and urged officials of the Lumbaca-Unayan Municipal Police Station and barangay leaders in the municipality to put an immediate closure on the incident.

“We want the people behind that crime prosecuted to the fullest extent of law,” Adiong said.

Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, stated that investigators are still working to identify the killers of Aloyodan and determine the motive behind the attack.

He also said that it remains unclear whether the murder was politically motivated.