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Bagumbayan Mayor Felipe Allaga survived the attack in his residence just before 8 a.m. today (Monday) but Paterno Cañonero, a worker in his hollow block business, died on the spot.
Allaga, now completing his third and last term, said he was rushing to attend the municipal government’s flag-raising rites when a motorcycle-riding gunman stopped in front of his house and shot the victim using a caliber .45 pistol.
When the victim fell near the gate, Allaga said the suspect proceeded to his pickup vehicle. At that time, he and his driver were just about to leave. “He pointed his gun at me but fortunately it did not fire,” Allaga said.
The mayor added his driver ran to the house to get an Armalite rifle but the suspect had fled before he could return.
Before the attack, Allaga claimed he received intelligence information that he would be killed.
Allaga said he was still deciding whether to run for the provincial board or as councilor of Bagumbayan, some 150 kilometers northwest from this city..
Allaga said moments before the gunman staged the attack, teachers saw him buying some stuff from a neighborhood convenience store.
The mayor said he failed to recognize the gunman and his motorcycle, claiming he was too nervous to have noticed.
Senior Supt. Suharto Tocao, Sultan Kudarat provincial director, said the local police are still investigating the incident.
