Sylvia Suatengco holds on to her brother who is cringing from his ambush wounds in this ABS-CBN video grab.*

Pulupandan mayor-elect Magdaleno Peña has linked

his political opponent to an ambush Wednesday that led to his injuries and to the death of two of his companions, but the police yesterday were exploring numerous angles.

"Peña has a lot of enemies, we are looking into numerous possibilities", Senior Supt. Rosendo Franco, Negros Occidental police director, said.

Among the possible suspects in the ambush are people involved in politics, those in the drug trade who see Peña as a threat in Pulupandan, those affected by a land problem in the town, and the New People's Army, he said.

Samson Mondia yesterday stressed that he had nothing to do with the ambush staged against mayor-elect Magdaleno Peña and denied allegations that drugs pass through the Pulupandan port, which his family runs.

Mondia, who ran against Peña for mayor of Pulupandan, also denied the allegation that he was in the get-away vehicle of the men who staged the ambush against Peña Wednesday. "I am not stupid," he said.

Since Peña claims to be the better tactician, for all we know the attack Wednesday could be an "ambush me" tactic of his to gain public sympathy and pin the blame on others, Mondia said.