AMBUSHED. The bullet-riddled vehicle driven by a candidate for village chair aspirant in Lanao del Sur shown here on Wednesday (Oct. 25, 2026). Kamar Bilao Bansil, 50, an independent candidate for village chair of Barangay Sigayan, Kapatagan, Lanao del Sur, was killed in an ambush while his wife and son also sustained injuries but survived. (Photo courtesy of Lanao del Sur PPO)
COTABATO CITY – Heavily armed men killed in an ambush Wednesday morning a candidate for village chairman in Kapatagan town, Lanao del Sur.
Colonel Robert S. Daculan, Lanao del Sur provincial police director, identified the fatality as Kamar Bilao Bansil, 50, who died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds while his wife and his son, who is a minor, were seriously injured.
Daculan said the undetermined number of gunmen, including Pabril Pagrangan, opened fire on the victim's vehicle as they were traveling along a dirt road in Barangay Sigayan, where Bansil was seeking the village chairman’s post.
Pagrangan is the husband of the incumbent chairperson of Barangay Sigayan.
“Manhunt against the group of Pagrangan is ongoing,” Daculan said in a radio interview.
Responding police found about 30 empty shells of M16 rifles at the ambush site.
Bansil’s wife, Jasmin, and son were rushed by responding policemen to the town's health station, Daculan added.
Bansil is running as an independent candidate but is very popular among his constituents, police said.
His ambush is the 13th violent election-related incident in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. (PNA)
