Ambushed mayor wants more security escorts following latest attempt on his life
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/26 January)– Shariff Aguak Mayor Akmad Ampatuan is asking for more security escorts after surviving yet another ambush Sunday in which a rocket propelled grenade targeted the armored SUV he was riding.
“This cannot happen again,” Ampatuan said, expressing shock at the firepower deployed against him.
“I didn’t think they would use a gun that large. An RPG is not something an ordinary person uses. This was professional,” he said at a press conference Monday morning at the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) hall of Shariff Aguak.
Sunday’s brazen daylight ambush is the latest attempt on his life. Ampatuan said he was targeted for assassination in 2014 and 2019 and noted that just as in past attempts, the attacks came when he had minimal escorts.
The two other attempts on the mayor’s life were on December 24, 2014 when his convoy was ambushed in Guindulungan town where he served as Vice Mayor, and in Shariff Aguak on December 24, 2019. He survived the 2014 ambush but his two escorts were killed. In the 2019 ambush, he sustained injuries while two of his security personnel were also killed.
He said the assassination attempts came when he had minimal escorts with him. Ampatuan said his security from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and his police escorts were recently pulled.
“December 3, 2025, I was left without an escort. I have to be careful now because I am vulnerable.”
Ampatuan said he has some ideas regarding who may want him dead but said he is not certain regarding the identity and motives of his attackers. He said he is leaving it to the Philippine National Police (PNP) to identify his attackers..
“If this is about politics, the elections are over. It should be finished,” he said.
Ampatuan questioned why some of his escorts were withdrawn.
“Why am I the only one left like this? I am an ally,” he said.
He expressed gratitude to the Chief of the Philippine National Police (CPNP) for the support and credited CCTV footage for providing vital leads in the ongoing investigation.
Ampatuan said he is still sore from injuries to his legs and shoulders and a little deaf because of the RPG blast. Two of his security escorts also sustained injuries.
Following the attack, a joint “hot pursuit” operation was launched by the PNP and the Philippine Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion.
Three suspects, who were on board a white kei van, were later cornered in Barangay Meta, Datu Unsay where they were killed in the ensuing shootout. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera/MindaNews)
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