Vice mayoralty bet survives ambush

From the Manila Times (Nov 15): Vice mayoralty bet survives ambush

A vice mayoralty candidate in Isabela City, Basilan was wounded in an ambush on Sunday by suspects onboard a motorcycle in Zamboanga City, police said.

The victim, Sihon Indanan, 45, a former city councilor, sustained two gunshot wounds in the back.

Police recovered from the crime scene in Brgy. Santa Maria, three empty shells of .45-caliber pistol and one slug.

A team was immediately dispatched to track down the suspects as police is looking into the motive of the incident.

The victim is running against Mayor Cherry Akbar of Isabela City, who is also vying for the vice mayoralty post in the 2016 elections.

Indanan’s case adds up to statistics in the city on election-related crime incidents recorded by the police since October.

At least a dozen people were killed and wounded in a roadside bombing in Isabela City that targeted Vice Mayor Abdulbaki Ajibon, who is running for mayor next year.

Ajibon’s group was traveling on a convoy of pickup truck and van and passing by Akbar’s house when the motorcycle bomb went off. Three of his security escorts were killed in the attack.

In May 2012, a motorcycle bomb also exploded as Ajibon’s convoy was passing by the same place, although no one was killed or injured in the blast.

Police said the bomb was placed inside the tool box of the motorcycle which was parked near the house of Akbar, whose husband, Basilan Congressman Wahab Akbar, was killed in a 2007 motorcycle bomb attack outside the House of Representatives in Manila.

Basilan is a known stronghold of the rebel group Abu Sayyaf, blamed by authorities for the spate of terrorism and kidnappings in the region.

http://www.manilatimes.net/vice-mayoralty-bet-survives-ambush/229259/