Barangay chairman dead, aide hurt in Lanao del Sur ambush

COTABATO CITY — Gunmen killed a barangay chairman and seriously wounded his aide in an ambush in Malabang, Lanao del Sur, on Wednesday, April 9.

Officials from the Malabang Municipal Police Station and the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office identified the fatality as Binhar Jalambre Alon Hawad, who died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds sustained in the attack. His companion, Norhan Comilao Sarip, was left injured

Citing reports from police units in Lanao del Sur, Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Hawad, 25, and the 20-year-old Sarip were together in a black Toyota Fortuner when gunmen positioned along a road in Barangay Montay, a secluded area in Malabang, attacked them.

Hawad was the barangay chairman of Baraas in Picong town, Lanao del Sur, located about 20 kilometers from where he and Sarip were waylaid.

Hawad was declared dead on arrival by doctors at the Serapio Montañer Memorial Hospital in Malabang, where emergency responders had brought him and Sarip for treatment.

Sarip, who is seriously wounded, is now confined to the same hospital.