Suspect in killing of Bukidnon town mayor killed in firefight

From the Philippine News Agency (May 9): Suspect in killing of Bukidnon town mayor killed in firefight

One of the suspects in the killing of a town mayor in Bukidnon province two years ago was killed in a clash with soldiers in the outskirts of Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, a belated Army report reaching here Tuesday said.

Lt. Erwin Bugarin, spokesperson of the Army’s 8th Infantry Battalion based in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon, identified the suspect as Jimmy Sante Ama, a member of the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

He said that Ama was one of the NPA rebels killed in an encounter with government troops in the hinterland village of Kibalabag in Malaybalay City last Friday.

Bugarin said that Ama was identified by relatives who claimed the suspect’s body in a funeral home in Malaybalay City on Sunday. The other victim remained unidentified, he said.

Bugarin said that a regional trial court in Bukidnon has issued a warrant of arrest against Ama and several others for the killing of Impasug-ong town Mayor Mario Okinlay in Bukidnon on July 2, 2015.

Okinlay and his convoy were on their way home after a medical and dental mission in the hinterland village of Bontongon, Impasug-ong when ambushed by suspected NPA members.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php/articles/986043