THE mayor of Pantar, Lanao del Norte was killed in an ambush in Iligan City Thursday night around 9:30 p.m., police said Friday.
Mayor Mohamad Exchan Limbona, 52, sustained multiple gunshot wounds after he was ambushed in Barangay Dalipuga, Iligan City.
Limbona was brought to the Adventist Medical Center but was declared dead by attending physicians less than an hour after the incident.
Limbona’s escort, Police Officer 1 Russel Jay Paltingca and PO1 Saidamen Haji Naim were both hit in the legs.
Limbona’s wife Ginima and daughter Sittie Aisha were unhurt.
Iligan City Police Director Police Supt. Roy Ga told Magnum Radio in an interview that an undertermined number of men fired on the driver’s side of Limbona’s Ford Everest hitting Limbona.
Ga said the possible motive for the killing could either be politics or Rido, a family feud that permeates Maranao culture.
In 2015, on the last day of the filing of election candidacy, a combined force of Regional Public Safety Battalion, a platoon of army soldiers and 4 Simba light armored vehicle of the Philippine Army prevented armed confrontation between Limbona’s men and acting mayor Jabar Tago.
