MOMENT OF IMPACT Reelectionist Vice Mayor Mohammad Omar Samama, of Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, is seen losing his balance moments after he was shot while speaking during a medical mission at an evacuation center in Barangay Magaslong at 10 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 24. 鈥擯hoto courtesy of Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Board Member King Mangudadatu
COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines 鈥� The police in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has formed a special investigation task group (SITG) to fast-track the investigation into Monday鈥檚 attempt to kill Vice Mayor Mohammad Omar Samama of Datu Piang town in Maguindanao del Sur.
Police Lt. Col. Jopy Ventura, the BARMM police spokesperson, said Brig. Gen. Romeo Macapaz, the region鈥檚 police director, had created 鈥淪ITG Samama鈥� headed by Police Col. Ryan Bobby Paloma, acting police director of Maguindanao del Sur, to go after and identify Samama鈥檚 assailant.
Ventura said the police were considering Samama鈥檚 shooting as a 鈥渟uspected election-related incident.鈥�
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Samama, who is seeking reelection in May, was speaking in a podium during a relief operation at the evacuation site in Barangay Magaslong around 10 a.m. when a single gunfire was heard, hitting him in the abdomen. He is now being treated in a hospital in Cotabato City.
Condemnations
The incident happened even as the local police said the area was heavily secured by policemen and soldiers and the vice mayor was with his father, Mayor Victor Samama, during the event.
Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. condemned the attack, calling it a 鈥渂razen act of violence, an affront to the rule of law and has no place in a peaceful and humane society.鈥�
鈥淥ur thoughts are with Vice Mayor Samama and his family. We are praying for his immediate recovery and safety so that he may continue to serve his people,鈥� Galvez said in a statement Tuesday.
Brig. Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of the Army鈥檚 6th Infantry Division, said they were coordinating with the police in the probe, as he also condemned the attack, saying the 鈥渧iolence against a duly elected public official is an affront to the peace and security efforts we continue to uphold in the region.鈥�