CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Gunmen opened fire on a convoy of a Filipino lawmaker on Thursday and killing four people and wounding three more in Misamis Oriental province in southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said among the injured in the attack were Iligan City Rep. Vicente Belmonte, Jr., who was ambushed along the highway in Laguindingan town. Two armoured vehicles, from the 2nd Mechanized Infantry, were dispatched by the army to rescue Belmonte’s group.
Belmonte was rushed to hospital for a minor injury. Officials said among the dead were Belmonte’s drivers and bodyguards.
Belmonte just arrived at the Laguindingan airport and his convoy was heading to Iligan City when gunmen sprayed his vehicles with automatic weapons. The motive of the attack is still unknown, but the politician is said to be eyeing the mayoralty post in Iligan City in the 2016 national elections.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the ambush, but the province is also a known lair of communist rebels. The 4th Infantry Division did not release any statement about the attack and the lack of security along the provincial highway. (Mindanao Examiner)
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