Four motorcycle-riding gunmen shot on Monday two municipal mayors of the province of Basilan in Zamboanga City, killing one of them, police said.
An initial report sent to Camp Crame by the Police Regional Office-9 identified the victims as Alih Awal Sali, mayor of Akbar, and Darussalam Saguindilan Lajid, mayor of Al-Barka, both in Basilan.
The report said the two mayors were walking toward a mosque at Seaside, Barangay Baliwasan, Zamboanga City when the four suspects armed with .45 caliber pistols appeared and shot them at about 8:31 a.m.
The suspects fled toward the inner portion of the seaside after the incident while the victims were brought to Brent hospital and Ciudad Medical Zamboanga, but Lajid was pronounced dead upon arrival at the medical facility.
A driver-bodyguard of Lajid also reportedly died during the ambush.
Sali, on the other hand, is in critical condition.
Checkpoints were put up to possibly arrest the suspects while neighboring provinces have been alerted about the incident.