Lanao Norte Maranaw clan leader hurt in election-related attack

ILIGAN CITY --- A matriarch of a large Maranaw political clan in Salvador, Lanao del Norte was seriously wounded when suspected partisans shot their house Sunday with assault rifles.Relatives are convinced the attack, which left the 73-year-old Hadja Salambae Ringia Umpa-Bangcola badly wounded, was politically motivated.Her son, identified in an initial police report only as Bebot, is aspiring for the mayoral post of Salvador town in Lanao del Norte.The Lanao del Norte provincial police is still investigating on the incident.The victim is a close relative of Regional Vice Governor Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.Lucman’s brother, Norodin, said one of the suspects in the shooting frenzy was found dead somewhere in the municipality after the incident.Local officials are worried the incident would spark a violent rido,” which means clan war in the Maranaw dialect, between the Bangcola family and the mastermind of the attack.The Bangcola clan has members who are identified with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.Radio reports on Monday said Lanao del Norte Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo promised to help look into the incident to hasten its resolution.The badly injured Bangcola is now confined at theMercy Community Hospital in Iligan City, where she is to undergo a head surgery.