MIDSAYAP, North Cotabato — A dark cloud has fallen over the upcoming regional elections following the fatal shooting of a local legislator from the Special Geographic Area of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (SGA-BARMM) on Thursday afternoon, July 16, 2026.

The targeted assassination took place on the very first day of the highly anticipated election period for the first-ever Bangsamoro parliamentary elections, immediately raising tensions and security concerns across the region.

Authorities identified the victim as Nasser A. Dalandang, an incumbent municipal councilor of Kadayangan—one of the newly formed towns within the SGA-BARMM.

According to Lt. Col. Rey Salgado, chief of the Midsayap Municipal Police, the ambush occurred around 3:00 PM along the national highway in Barangay Salunayan. Dalandang was sitting in the driver’s seat of his parked pickup truck, waiting for his wife to buy medicine from a nearby establishment, when the attackers struck.

Two unidentified gunmen riding tandem on a motorcycle pulled up beside the vehicle and opened fire directly through the driver’s side window. Combined forces of the police and military rushed Dalandang to a nearby hospital, but he was tragically declared dead on arrival.

Councilor Dalandang was a prominent member of the United Justice Party (UJP), the official political party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The MILF currently helms the interim regional government ahead of the historic transition to full parliamentary autonomy.

In a complex jurisdictional twist, the attack took place in Midsayap, a municipality that belongs to the province of North Cotabato and sits just outside the official BARMM territory.

Jurisdiction Fact: Because Midsayap is outside the autonomous region, it is not covered by the stringent election gun ban implemented for the forthcoming parliamentary polls. However, the gun ban is strictly in effect in neighboring Kadayangan—the victim’s home turf.

The Midsayap Police and regional military units have condemned the killing and launched an aggressive hot-pursuit and manhunt operation to track down the suspects. Law enforcement has also intensified checkpoints and security measures along major borders.

While investigators are still looking into whether the motive is politically driven or tied to local clan feuds (rido), the timing of the assassination has sent shockwaves through the electorate. As the Bangsamoro region navigates its delicate and deeply scrutinized transition to electing its first parliament, this opening-day bloodshed serves as a grim reminder of the volatile security landscape hovering over the ballot boxes.