READY TO SERVE. Akmad Urak (left), the elected chairperson of Barangay Tamontaka 1, Cotabato City, takes his oath in this July 2023 photo before Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao after he was appointed as acting village chair. He was later charged with murder, surrendered, and jailed. While detained, he ran for barangay chairman of Tamontaka 1 and won. (Photo courtesy of the City Mayor’s Office).
COTABATO CITY – A village chairman who got elected in last October’s Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan while in jail was released Thursday after charges of murder and frustrated murder were dismissed by the local court here.
“Thank you, I know it will come since I am innocent from the very beginning,” Akmad Urak, elected chairperson of Barangay Tamontaka 1, Cotabato City, as he and seven others were released from the city jail.
Urak said the charges against him were politically motivated.
Despite being in jail, Urak pushed his candidacy and ended up victorious over two other candidates.
Lawyer Asgar Mandal, Urak's legal counsel, told reporters Friday that the charges of two counts of murder, three counts of frustrated murder and two counts of attempted murder were all dismissed due to lack of sufficient evidence.
“He (Urak) will assume office anytime,” Mandal said.
Urak was in tears as he stepped out of the detention facility that served as his temporary home since August this year.
“I am innocent of all the charges and the court has proven it,” he said.
Even before the warrant for his arrest from Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 27, Cotabato City came out in August, Urak and his seven other co-accused, turned themselves in to Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao.
After the Oct. 30 village polls, elected No. 1 councilman Rex Adam assumed as Barangay Tamontaka 1 acting chairperson while Urak was still in jail.
“I will step down immediately once Chairman Urak assumes office,” he said. (PNA)
