COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 25 January) — A daring early Sunday morning ambush using a rocket-propelled grenade and targeting Shariff Aguak Mayor Akmad Ampatuan failed to kill the mayor but injured two of his escorts. Three of the suspected attackers riding in a white van, were killed during pursuit operations by a joint police-military team.
This was the third attempt on Ampatuan’s life since 2014.
“The mayor is safe,” Anwar Kuit Emblawa, the mayor’s executive assistant, said in a message to reporters in Cotabato City.
Ampatuan, grandson of the late patriarch Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr., was in his black bulletproof Toyota Land Cruiser, as he was returning home from the market when attacked at around 6:30 a.m. in Barangay Poblacion, almost across the municipal hall compound. His backup vehicle, a pickup, was hit by bullets.
His son, Shariff Aguak Vice Mayor Hadji Oping Ampatuan, posted a reel containing CCTV footages on the ambush. Two of the armed men disembarked from the white mini van, one of them immediately firing his improvised rocket-propelled grenade towards the mayor’s vehicle but the armored vehicle sped ahead.
Emblawa said the two security escorts – Pfc Manuel Arcega Dondiego and sustained minor injuries and Lakman Eso tips — were treated at the Bangsamoro Regional and Medical Center in Datu Hoffer town for abdominal wounds.
Following the attack, a joint “hot pursuit” operation was launched by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion.
Hours later, the suspects were cornered in Barangay Meta, Datu Unsay. In the ensuing shootout, three suspects were killed. They were identified as
Budtong “Rap-Rap” Alim Pendatun, Tekz Malid Pendatun and Puasa Oting Madid.
The two other attempts on the mayor’s life were on December 24, 2014 when his convoy was ambushed in Guindulungan town where he served as Vice Mayor, and in Shariff Aguak on December 24, 2019. He survived the 2014 ambush but his two escorts were killed. In the 2019 ambush, he sustained injuries while two of his security personnel were killed.
P/Capt. Steffi Salanguit, Spokesperson for Police Regional Office BARMM, confirmed the tactical nature of the hit. “CCTV footage showed the suspects emerging from a van, one of them carrying an RPG. Despite the damage and the smoke, the vehicle kept moving. Our personnel acted heroically to repel the attack.”
The Shariff Aguak Municipal Police Station issued a statement condemning the “peace spoilers” and confirmed that a B40 RPG launcher and several high-powered rifles were recovered from the suspects’ getaway vehicle. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)
