COTABATO CITY (October 13) — Two Moro community leaders were gunned down in separate attacks in Maguindanao del Norte and neighboring Sultan Kudarat within 24 hours, one ambushed on a highway and the other shot while riding a tricycle along a farm-to-market road.
Datu Manalao Mangelen Nur Sr., a former barangay chairman in Datu Odin Sinsuat, was killed in an ambush in a secluded area of Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat, on Sunday, October 11. A day later, Datu Amil Beno, a barangay council member in Datu Odin Sinsuat, was gunned down in Poblacion Dalican.
Police said Nur was riding in a Nissan pickup with his driver along a highway in an interior area of Esperanza when armed men attacked. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene. The assailants fled on motorcycles, according to the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Police Office.
Nur had served three consecutive terms as chairman of Barangay Dados in Datu Odin Sinsuat. After his service, he lived near a predominantly Moro community in Esperanza, about 70 kilometers south of Datu Odin Sinsuat.
His relatives told reporters on Monday that they believed the gunmen were residents of Datu Odin Sinsuat but declined to provide further details. Their claim has not been independently verified.
The second killing occurred on Monday in Poblacion Dalican, Datu Odin Sinsuat.
Beno, a council member of Barangay Bungued, was riding a payong-payong tricycle along the Bungued-Dalican farm-to-market road when armed men opened fire on him. The attackers escaped on a motorcycle.
Beno belonged to a prominent Maguindanaon clan and took part in programs promoting religious and cultural solidarity among Muslim, Christian and Indigenous communities in Datu Odin Sinsuat.
The killings have raised concerns about the safety of local leaders involved in community affairs and peacebuilding. However, authorities have not established whether the attacks were connected or whether the victims’ community work had any bearing on the killings.
Officials of the Datu Odin Sinsuat Municipal Police Station and local executives confirmed Beno’s death. Police investigators are coordinating with intelligence personnel of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division to identify and pursue the perpetrators.
As of Monday, authorities had not publicly announced any arrests or established a motive for either killing.
Investigators must determine who carried out the attacks, why the two leaders were targeted and whether the cases are linked. Until those questions are answered, the killings remain unresolved, leaving their families and communities waiting for accountability.
