Candidate for barangay chairman survives ambush in North Cotabato

A candidate for Barangay Chairman in the October 25 barangay (village) elections survived an early Friday morning ambush in North Cotabato, the same province rocked by a deadly bus blast the previous day. Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman of the military's Eastern Mindanao Command, said Abdila Macalay was attacked at Barangay Salat (Upper) in President Roxas town, North Cotabato at around 12:30 a.m. on Friday. Macalay sustained a gunshot wound on his arm. His nephew was shot on the leg. "Sila ay nasa mabuting kalagayan na (They are already in safe condition)," Cabangbang assured the public. Cabangbang said the assault on Macalay, who is running for barangay chairman, could likely be considered as an election-related incident and violence (ERIV). However, he said investigators would still be looking into the possibility that the attack was personally motivated, and was hidden only under the guise of an ERIV. "Hindi natin didi-discount na napakaraming tao na ginagawang rason ang barangay polls... Maganda rin kasing cover ang election," Cabangbang said. (We will not discount that many people are using the barangay polls [as a reason or cause for violence]. Elections are a good cover.) Considered by the Philippine National Police (PNP) as more prone to security problems, the grassroots polls will see political clans battle for the 672,400 elective posts in 42,025 barangays. Nationwide gun ban Friday's shooting happened amid a nationwide gun ban for the October 25 elections. In the first three weeks of the ban, the police confiscated close to 470 firearms, handguns, grenades, and bladed weapons from 411 individuals. The attack on the village councilor also happened on the heels of a bloody explosion inside a passenger bus in President Roxas' neighboring town of Matalam, where 10 people died and 30 others were hurt. Investigators are saying that one of the wounded individuals could have been the bomber, and that the suspect might be a "terrorist." –VVP, GMANews.TV