Police clueless on shooting of Maguindanao school exec

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- Police in Kabacan town are still clueless as to the motive behind the attempt on the life of a school principal from Montawal town in Maguindanao.

Reports from the Kabacan police said Abonawas Genso, 46, principal of the Tunggol Elementary School in Datu Montawal, Maguindanao, was wounded in his chest when he was shot at by still unidentified gunman on Tuesday night.

Genso was driving his XRM motorcycle with his wife on board, when the suspect attacked him.

After shooting his target, the suspect fled on foot towards the dark portion of Aglipay Street in Poblacion, Kabacan, reports said.

The victim is still fighting for his life at the intensive care unit of the Kidapawan Medical Specialist Center here, staff at the hospital said.

Superintendent Raul Supiter, chief of Kabacan Police Station, said attempt on Genso's life could be personal.

They, however, do not discount the possibility that the incident was work-related.

The attack on Genso was the second against school officials in North Cotabato, since April, this year.

On April 10, an education official in Maguindanao identified as Taya Sabal Las Marias, 52, was shot and killed while taking a nap outside her boarding house in Kabacan town.

Supiter, however, has yet to determine if the killing of Las Marias was related on the attempt on Genso’s life.