MANILA, March 1 -- George Perret, mayor of the Southern Philippine municipality of Maitum, Sarangani province, died of cardiac arrest and loss of blood after he got hurt in an ambush in Maitum on Friday night, local military said on Saturday.

Captain Ernest Carolina, the spokesman for the Philippine Army' s 10th Infantry Division, said Perret was driving his Toyota Fortuner vehicle with his wife and a maid of his family when the car was waylaid by a group of armed men along a national highway at Malalag village around 10 p.m. Friday.

According to Carolina, Perret was on his way home without security escorts after attending a social activity at the municipal gym when the ambush occurred. The mayor and the maid were hurt by gunshots in the incident, while his wife, Elsie Lucille, was unharmed.

The injured were then brought to nearby St. Elizabeth Hospital for treatment. "However, Mayor Perrett expired at about 2:30 a.m. (Saturday) due to cardiac arrest," said Carolina. Local police said loss of blood caused by the gunshot wound on his left thigh also contributed to the death of the mayor.

Responding lawmen recovered at the scene several cartridges of M16 and cal. 45 pistol, said Carolina, adding that local authorities are trying to establish the motive of the attack.