GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 24 November) – A lawyer-businessman and candidate for governor of Sarangani Province was wounded in a gun attack inside a church compound here on Saturday night, November 23.
Capt. Miguel Angelo Quidilla, chief of city police station number 4, said that victim Gladden Lim, 48, sustained two gunshot wounds on his abdomen.
He is being secured while undergoing treatment in a private hospital here, he added.
Citing accounts from witnesses, he said Lim has just entered his pickup truck parked inside the compound of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church along Dacera Avenue, Barangay City Heights around 6:20 pm when he was shot several times by unidentified gunmen.
Investigators recovered at the scene at least five spent shells from a caliber .45 handgun, Quidilla said.
The victim, a resident of Alabel town in Sarangani Province, was rushed to the Mindanao Medical Center situated just in front the SDA compound.
The police official told reporters that they already identified some “persons on interest” in the gun attack against Lim, who filed his certificate of candidacy for governor of Sarangani last Oct. 8 under the Maharlika Party.
Quidilla did not divulge further details pending the ongoing investigation.
Lim also ran for Sarangani governor in the May 2022 local elections.
For the May 2025 polls, Sarangani Gov. Rogelio “Ruel” Pacquiao is seeking reelection while businessman Mohammad “Bong” Aquia is also vying for the post.
Pastor Bernard Nitro of the SDA Church said Lim has just attended their board meeting and was preparing to go home when he was attacked.
“Our meeting has just ended then. Some of colleagues were about to board their vehicles while some of us were having conversation inside the building when we suddenly heard at least five consecutive gunshots,” he said in an interview over Brigada News FM.
He said he immediately rushed towards Lim’s vehicle, which was parked near the Dacera Avenue side of the compound, and found the latter wounded but still conscious and rushed him to the nearby hospital.
Nitro said they are “clueless“ as to the possible motives behind the attack and could not say whether it is connected to Lim’s political aspirations.
“He is a simple man, a very helpful person. Although he and his wife were both lawyers, they are very modest and have a simple family,” he said.
According to his Facebook account, Lim is a realty developer, and is the Chief Executive Officer and President of the GSL Group of Companies.
The company’s current major project is the La Victoria Residences located in Sanchez Estate, Barangay Silway 7 in Polomolok, South Cotabato. (Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews)
