Lanao Sur governor calls for quick action on police chief’s slay

ILIGAN CITY -- Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr. has urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to hasten the immediate arrest of the perpetrators behind the killing of Master Sgt. Amen L. Macalangan, officer in charge (OIC) of the Binidayan Municipal Police Station.

Macalangan was ambushed on Monday (December 23) in Pagayawan town, Lanao del Sur, en route to Binidayan town.

He was killed with Ramel Pangcatan, a Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team (BPAT) member of Binidayan, who was hired as driver of the police mobile.

Their two companions, a non-uniformed police (NUP) personnel Asliah Adiong and another policeman, Patrolman Nasser Arafat, escaped unhurt.

“Macalangan was passionate in his anti-criminality campaign and we applaud his dedication and hard work,” Adiong said.

Adiong also urged the public to bring any useful information to the police for the “immediate solution of this case.”

Meanwhile, the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office (LDS-PPO) said it has already identified a number of suspects.

Col. Madzgani Mukaram, director of the LDSPPO, said they believe the motive in the killing was related to Macalangan’s work.

Before becoming an officer-in-charge of the Binidayan town police, Mukaram said Macalangan served as his driver and close-in security.

When the former chief of police of Binidayan MPS was relieved less than a month ago, Mukaram said it was Macalangan who offered himself to lead in the said station.

No one wanted to be assigned there because of the many challenges in the town’s peace and order, Mukaram added.

Several days after Macalangan took over as officer-in-charge as head of less than 20 police force in Binidayan, smuggled cigarettes and illegal cut logs were seized and confiscated in three series of law enforcement operations in the area.

Mukaram said, Macalangan, who had been in the police service for 21 years, received death threats because of the anti-crime operations he initiated in Binidayan.