ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Ahmad Nanoh, the former mayor of Pangutaran, Sulu, is in critical condition following a shooting incident on Thursday afternoon, March 17.
According to Police Superintendent Nonito Asdai, the shooting occurred at around 4:45 pm along Crispin Atilano junction, Candido Street, in Tetuan, Zamboanga City.
Alip was on board a Toyota Hi-Lux, with license plate JBW 925, when an unidentified person shot him. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds on various parts of his body and remains in critical condition.
An investigation is ongoing.
Nanoh, a member of Vice President Jejomar Binay's United Nationalist Alliance, is running again for mayor. He is challenging reelectionist Amilhamja Taib of the ruling Liberal Party.
He was mayor from 2001 to 2010, and lost in his return bid in 2013.
In September 2010, he was named by witnesses as one of the alleged masterminds in a deadly explosion at the Zamboanga International Airport a month before.
In the same year, his vice mayor Taib filed an administrative complaint against him, but this was dismissed by the Sulu provincial board.
Nanoh also figured in the news in 2009 when two of his security escorts were killed in an ambush, and when his teenage daughter was abducted by an alleged suitor.
In 2008, Mayor Nanoh was slapped by Sulu Governor Abdul Sakur Tan after the latter had an argument with Nanoh's son. Nanoh reported receiving death threats on his mobile phone after the incident. – Richard Falcatan/Rappler.com