KIDAPAWAN CITY -- A barangay councilor in Ampatuan, Maguindanao was shot dead by a still unidentified suspect around 6 p.m. Tuesday, police reports said.
Senior Superintendent Alex Lineses, provincial director of the Maguindanao Philippine National Police (PNP), the slain victim was identified as Talib Salahudin, councilor of Barangay Kakal in Ampatuan town.
The victim, according to Lineses, was on his way home to Barangay Kakal when shot many times in the head.
No one saw what happened as the area was dark and deserted, Lineses said.
He added that the victim was not related to Ampatuan Vice Mayor Rasul Sangki, as rumors have it. Sangki is the primary witness to the killing of 57 people, including 30 journalists, in November 23, 2009.
The victim was also not the Doc Uling, which was earlier reported as the one killed last Tuesday night in Kakal village.
Uling, according to reports, was Sangki's first cousin and his security aide.
"But Salahudin was not Uling. The relatives of Salahudin told us the victim was not related to the Sangkis in Ampatuan," Lineses said.
Lineses already ordered a thorough search for Uling.
Earlier reports coming from Buluan Vice Mayor and Maguindanao gubernatorial candidate Esmail Toto Mangudadatu said Uling was shot dead inside his home in Kakal village.
"The killing was perpetrated by the grandsons of former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., identified as Bahnarin Ampatuan and his cousin, Ulo Ampatuan, and Sukarno Badal," Mangudadatu said.
The three suspects, just like Ampatuan Sr., are among those accused in the November 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre.
"They killed Uling to threaten Sangki who is our primary witness. They might also do that to Sangki's other relatives. That can happen," Mangudadatu said. (Malu Cadelina Manar)