{"id":198539,"date":"2026-01-29T16:06:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T16:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/video-shows-filipino-mayor-narrowly-escaping-rpg-attack-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T16:06:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T16:06:02","slug":"video-shows-filipino-mayor-narrowly-escaping-rpg-attack-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/video-shows-filipino-mayor-narrowly-escaping-rpg-attack-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Video shows Filipino mayor narrowly escaping RPG attack – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

A mayor in the Philippines narrowly escaped death<\/a> after officials say he was ambushed by a gang of assailants armed with a rocket launcher.
In a press conference on Monday, Jan. 26, Mayor Akmad Ampatuan, who survived the attack, called for a heightened security detail.
\u201cI didn\u2019t think they would use a gun that large. An RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) is not something an ordinary person uses. This was professional,\u201d he said, according to news.com.au<\/a>.
The now-viral surveillance footage shows a man crouching behind a gray van across the street from a gas station where Ampatuan was pulling in. Then, the assailant launches the shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon directly at Ampatuan\u2019s black Toyota SUV.
As the RPG is launched, another man in a red shirt is seen shooting an automatic rifle toward the mayor.
The video also shows the projectile appearing to hit the mayor’s SUV before quickly driving away, as smoke lingers on the rear end of the car.
According to local news outlet Minda News<\/a>, two of the mayor\u2019s security personnel, who were inside the SUV, were injured, three of the suspected attackers were killed and a fourth suspect is still at large.
Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Randulf Tuan\u0303o told news.com.au<\/a> that the leader of the group was identified as \u201cRaprap\u201d and that his accomplices were his uncle, cousin, and sibling, who was the driver and managed to escape.
\u201cThe first angle we are looking at is local tension related to local politics, which may have resulted in the hiring of gunmen-for-hire,\u201d Tuan\u0303o said.
According to the same outlet<\/a>, this is not the first time Ampatuan has been attacked. In 2010, he was the victim of a roadside bombing. Then, in 2014 and 2019, he was the victim of two separate ambushes.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.<\/em><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A mayor in the Philippines narrowly escaped death after officials say he was ambushed by a gang of assailants armed with a rocket launcher.In a press conference on Monday, Jan. 26, Mayor Akmad Ampatuan, who survived the attack, called for a heightened security detail.\u201cI didn\u2019t think they would use a gun that large. An RPG […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":198540,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-198539","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}