Manila: Police have launched a province-wide manhunt against two assailants who ambushed and killed a local media worker on Tuesday afternoon in Barangay Limbo, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte. Capt. Steffi Salanguit, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR), identified the victim as Dennis Pido, 56, a resident of Pigcawayan, North Cotabato and a broadcast media worker for the Church-owned Radio Station DXMS-AM/DXOL-FM of the Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation (NDBC), based in Cotabato City.

According to Philippines News Agency, Salanguit said police probers are following various leads that could help identify and arrest the perpetrators. Pido was driving his motorcycle on his way to work when ambushed by an unidentified gunman on board a separate motorbike driven by an accomplice at about 3:50 p.m. "Motive of the attack is still unknown; the police investigators are yet to speak with the victim's family," Salanguit said in a statement Wednesday.

Police rushed the victim to Cotabato Sanitarium and General Hospital, where he later succumbed to three gunshot wounds to the chest. "We are heartbroken that a hardworking media worker lost his life while simply on his way to work," Drema Bravo, DXMS-AM/DXOL-FM station manager, said.

Fr. Rockmoore Saniel, NDBC's chief executive officer, has condemned the attack on Pido, whom he described as a dedicated media worker who served for more than 30 years as a broadcast media technician. Saniel urged the government, the police, and other law enforcement agencies to bring the perpetrators to justice.