Ustadz Wahab M. Akbar (April 16, 1960 – November 13, 2007) was a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

politician who served three terms as governor of

Basilan Basilan, officially the Province of Basilan ( cbk, Provincia de Basilan; yka, Wilayah Basilanin; tsg, Wilaya' sin Basilan; fil, Lalawigan ng Basilan), is an island province of the Philippines located primarily in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Reg ...

, during which time he was known for his "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" policy for dealing with kidnappers and terrorists in the province. He was later elected as congressman for the lone district of Basilan in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, but was one of 4 people killed in a bomb attack at the Batasang Pambansa. Police publicly suspected the attack was directed at him by political opponents.

Life

Wahab Akbar was born in

Lantawan Lantawan, officially the Municipality of Lantawan ( Tausūg: ''Lupah Lantawan''; Chavacano: ''Municipalidad de Lantawan''; tgl, Bayan ng Lantawan), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Basilan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...

where his father, Hadji Mohtamad Salajin, served as the town's first mayor. At age 11 Akbar joined his father to fight in the mountains, but after three years Salajin was persuaded to join the government and was appointed mayor of Lantawan by President Ferdinand Marcos. He studied

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

at Gregorio Araneta University (now

De La Salle Araneta University De La Salle Araneta University, also referred to by its acronym (Araneta U or DLSAU), is a private Catholic Lasallian co-educational basic and higher education institution supervised by the Philippine District of the De La Salle Christian Brother ...

), but did not finish. A member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, Akbar was first elected governor of

in the 1998 elections. He was reelected in 2001 and 2004. Akbar was constitutionally barred from seeking a fourth consecutive term as governor. Instead, he successfully sought

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

to the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, representing the lone district of his home province. One of his wives won the election to succeed him as governor. Another of his wives is mayor of the provincial capital,

Isabela City Isabela, officially the City of Isabela (Chavacano: ''Ciudad de Isabela''; Tausūg: ''Dāira sin Isabela''; Yakan: ''Suidad Isabelahin''; fil, Lungsod ng Isabela), is a 4th class component city and ''de facto'' capital of the province of Bas ...

; A third wife ran, and lost, the race to be mayor of another city in Basilan. He was strongly suspected of having ties with the

Abu Sayyaf Abu Sayyaf (; ar, جماعة أبو سياف; ', ASG), officially known by the Islamic State as the Islamic State – East Asia Province, is a Jihadist militant and pirate group that follows the Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam. It is base ...

, an Islamic extremist group linked to Al Qaeda, with some reports even claiming that he was a founding member and a commander until a falling-out with the group.

Personal life

He was married to first wife Jum Jainnudin, second wife, Cherry Lyn Santos, third wife Nur-in Akbar, fourth wife Marietta Zamoranos, and fifth wife (who is Syrian).

Death

On November 13, 2007, Akbar died at the Far Eastern University - Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation Medical Center from injuries sustained following an explosion at the House of Representatives in the Batasang Pambansa complex. The blast also immediately killed the driver of another legislator. Three other congressional staff members would die from blast injuries, including one of Akbar's own aides. According to

National Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

Police Office A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...

chief, Director Geary Barias, Akbar could have been the target of the bombing, since his vehicle bore the brunt of the damage. The next day, his body was brought to

for his burial. He was buried in front of his mansion which was still under construction.

Writ of Habeas Corpus

On December 14, 2007, in 2-page resolution, the Supreme Court of the Philippines issued a

writ of habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

on petition of suspects Caidar Aunal, Adham Kusain, and Ikram Indama. It required the Philippine National Police's (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), National Capital Region-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (NCR-CIDU) and the PNP Custodial Center to file returns before

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...

Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Romeo Zamora on December 18. However, the family suspected that the head of the killing was close ally of Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III,

Mujiv Hataman Mujiv Sabbihi Hataman (born September 11, 1972) is a Filipino indigenous people's rights advocate and politician from the indigenous Yakan people of the Sulu Archipelago. He became nationally prominent when he served as the sixth and last reg ...

, Former

Anak Mindanao Anak Mindanao () also known as AMIN Partylist is a party-list in the Philippines, based in Mindanao. Anak Mindanao was established in 1997. It seek representation of Mindanaoans. In the 2004 elections for the House of Representatives the party ...

Representative and Current ARMM Regional Governor.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akbar, Wahab 1960 births 2007 deaths Assassinated Filipino politicians Basilan Filipino Muslims Governors of Basilan Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Basilan People from Basilan People murdered in the Philippines