A provincial election supervisor in Sulu was unscathed in a drive-by shooting here Saturday but his elder brother was wounded.
Police identified the victim as Nasser Amil Asiri, 57, the elder brother of Provincial Election Supervisor Vidzfar Amil Julie, 51. The shooting occurred around 10:30 a.m. in Sitio Villa Sta. Maria, Barangay Sta. Maria.
Julie said they were traveling home from Zamboanga International Airport when the two suspects on a motorcycle pulled alongside their vehicle and opened fire.
“I know I am the target of the gunmen,” Julie said in an interview, suggesting that the attack may be related to his work. Julie, who had just arrived from Jolo, was driving his sports utility vehicle with Asiri on the passenger seat.
Asiri fetched him from the airport. The Zamboanga City Police Office has launched a manhunt operation to arrest those responsible for the shooting.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) condemned the attack. Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia said Julie was declared safe while his sibling was in critical condition after the shooting.
The poll officer and his sibling were inside a car when they were ambushed by still unidentified suspects.
In a Viber message to the media, Garcia said that “no words are enough to condemn this treacherous act of violence against our people.”
“What is more gruesome and unforgivable is when a loved one is caught in the crossfire so to speak. We are not yet prepared to cry hopelessness but a call for immediate action from authorities is strongly demanded,” he added.
An election officer in Lanao del Norte was killed last month.
Garcia said he will transfer election officers who were receiving death threats to areas “less inconvenient” for them to ensure their safety.