A municipal chief executive in Libungan, Cotabato who had been alleged to be on President Rodrigo Duterte’s narcotics list survived an assassination attempt inside the town hall on Monday.
Mayor Christopher Cuan was inside the municipal hall when an unidentified gunman started firing at him, according to Senior Supt. Maximo Layugan, director of the Cotabato Police Provincial Office.
The mayor was able to escape, police said, but a utility worker at the town hall was hit by a stray bullet on the left knee.
Cuan’s security escort was able to fight back but the suspect was able to flee on a getaway vehicle waiting outside the municipal hall, just a few meters away from the town’s police station.
Cuan has denied his involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Authorities conducted a raid in October 2016 in a residence, guardhouse, motor pool, and gasoline station all owned by Cuan in Kabacan but they failed to find illegal drugs.
But police said they were able to recover high-powered firearms and hundreds of live ammunition.
In November 2017, the National Police Commission issued a list of local government officials stripped of their supervision and control over the police in their respective jurisdictions due to alleged drug links or abuse of authority.