Ambush vs BARMM chief Macacua won’t affect Sept. 14 polls – PNP

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) maintained that the ambush that targeted Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof “Sammy Gambar” Macacua will not affect their parliamentary elections this coming Sept. 14.

“Security measures remain in place and police commanders were tasked to intensify intelligence-gathering and conduct real-time deployment adjustments,” PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a statement on Monday.

“The incident involving BARMM Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof ‘Sammy Gambar’ Macacua in Maguindanao del Norte will not affect the scheduled elections on September 14,” he stressed.

Article continues after this advertisement

Macacua was returning home with his personnel after he was sworn in as chair and president of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party when unidentified gunmen fired at his convoy in Barangay Dulangan, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte on Saturday afternoon.

The BARMM interim chief and his group were unharmed.

Macacua is running to be the representative of the Maguindanao del Norte 3rd District in the BARMM parliamentary elections.

Nartatez said police units in the region were ordered to remain vigilant and to be “politically neutral,” with less than a month left before the BARMM polls.

Article continues after this advertisement

“We in the PNP, along with our partners in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec), will continue to assess the security situation and conduct necessary adjustments to ensure that the incident does not disrupt the electoral process,” Nartatez said.

“We assure the people of BARMM that the PNP, along with the AFP, Comelec and other stakeholders, will do everything within its mandate to ensure their safety and protect their right to participate freely and peacefully in the elections,” he added. /apl