KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews / 25 Sep) – A barangay chairman in Tulunan, North Cotabato survived a daylight gun attack while biking inside a covered court Tuesday, reports from the local police said.
Joemar Cerebo Almirante, barangay chair of Sibsib in Tulunan, was reportedly included in the list of those involved in drug trafficking.
Police said that while Almirante was doing his regular exercises, a thickly tinted Montero stopped and the gunman shot the barangay chair thrice, but missed.
A stray bullet, however, hit a retired school teacher who, at the time of the attack, was cooking breakfast for the family. She was rushed immediately to the nearest hospital, reports said.
Authorities recovered from the scene three spent bullets from a caliber .45 pistol. They have yet to identify the gunman and determine the motive behind the attack.
Almirante was included in President Duterte’s list of narco-politicians in North Cotabato.
His house was raided months before the barangay elections were held in 2018 by elements of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit. The anti-drug operatives, however, failed to recover drugs and other paraphernalia from his house, reports said.
Almirante, during media interview, denied having links with drug syndicates and that he was never involved in any illegal activity. (Malu Cadelina Manar / MindaNews)