Lanao del Sur gov now out of hospital; raps filed vs ambush suspects

Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. (Photo by the Philippine Information Agency)

ILIGAN CITY — Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr., who was wounded during a Feb. 17 ambush in Maguing town, had been discharged from the hospital and continues his recovery at home, an aide told the Inquirer on Sunday.

According to provincial information officer Salma Jayne Tamano, although Adiong was discharged last March 1, he has not yet reported to office as he still undergoes therapy at home.

He was also subjected to regular checkups, Tamano added.

At least three persons are now facing complaints for murder, frustrated murder, and attempted murder for the ambush on Adiong’s convoy.

According to a statement from Col. Robert Daculan, Lanao del Sur police director, the complaints against a certain Commander Lomala Baratumo, Oscar Capal Gandawali, Acsanie Hadji Salic and several other unidentified suspects were filed before the provincial prosecutor’s office on Thursday.

Col. James Gulmatico, deputy regional director for operations of the Police Regional Office in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, witnessed the filing of the complaints for four counts of murder, three counts of frustrated murder, and multiple counts of attempted murder.

The suspects are still at large and the subject of a police manhunt.

Adiong’s police-led seven-vehicle convoy was en route to Wao town from the provincial capital of Marawi City when they were waylaid by armed men between the villages of Ragayan and Dilimbayan at around 3 p.m.

The attack killed four, three of whom were police officers, and wounded three, including the governor.

Hours after the ambush, Adiong underwent minor surgery in a hospital in Cagayan de Oro City to remove a slug from his lower abdomen.

Adiong had hinted that personalities involved in the illegal drug trade in the province could have a hand in the attempt to kill him, citing the successes of the provincial government’s anti-narcotics campaign in cooperation with the police, Army, and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

A day after the ambush, police and PDEA operatives destroyed 25,000 hills of marijuana plants, estimated to have a street value of P5 million, in Maguing’s Barangay Bato-Bato where they also busted marijuana plantations last year.

The police identified a certain Kumander Lomala Pangampong, said to be a resident of Sitio Landslide in Bato-Bato, as the leader of marijuana plantation cultivators in the area. He reportedly eluded the police dragnet last year.

Authorities are yet to confirm if the names Commander Lomala Baratumo and Kumander Lomala Pangampong refer to a similar person.

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