It was a scene ripped straight from an action blockbuster, but for Mayor Akmad Mitra Ampatuan, it was a terrifying brush with death. The mayor of Shariff Aguak in the Philippines miraculously survived an assassination attempt on Sunday when attackers fired a Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) at his convoy in broad daylight.

CCTV footage of the incident has gone viral, showing the brazen audacity of the hit squad. As the Mayor's black SUV navigated the streets, a man stepped out of a white van, took a knee, and fired the bazooka. The projectile struck the vehicle, but in a twist of fate, the armored car held, and the Mayor sped away unscathed.

"Professional Hit"

"I didn't expect them to use such large firearms," Mayor Ampatuan told reporters, visibly shaken but defiant. "RPGs are not weapons ordinary people use. This was a professional crime." The attack left two of his security detail injured, but the Mayor emerged without a scratch—his fourth survival of an assassination attempt.

• Swift Justice: Police did not wait for the dust to settle. In a hot pursuit operation immediately following the ambush, law enforcement officers cornered and killed three of the four suspects.
• Political Violence: The incident underscores the violent undercurrents of local politics in the region, where guns often speak louder than ballots.

The Aftermath

The use of military-grade weaponry on a civilian street has sent shockwaves through the country. It signals a dangerous escalation in the tactics used by political rivals or hired guns. For the residents of Shariff Aguak, it is a stark reminder that their safety is collateral damage in the power struggles of the elite.

Mayor Ampatuan lives to fight another day, but with enemies willing to use rocket launchers to get to him, one has to wonder: how long can his luck hold?