Cotabato City, Jan. 8 -- Police authorities, backed by troopers from the Army's 601st Infantry Brigade, have launched a manhunt against two gunmen who shot dead on Wednesday a village chairman and his cousin in Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao del Sur.

"Manhunt is ongoing," Lt. Col. Jopy Ventura, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR), said in a statement Thursday.

The ambush occurred at about 9:40 a.m. Wednesday near the victim's house in Barangay Panadtaban.

Those killed were identified as Panadtaban village chief Norodin Sindatukan Utto and his cousin Arto Utto Mangilala.

The village official was back-riding in a motorbike driven by his cousin when two men on separate motorcycles overtook th...