KIDAPAWAN CITY — A police manhunt is underway against gunmen who ambushed and killed two militiamen and a pregnant woman in Barangay Ginatilan, Pikit, North Cotabato on Monday.
Supt. Bernard Tayong, North Cotabato provincial police spokesperson, said the police had coordinated with the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion and the ceasefire panels of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in hunting down the gunmen.
“The ambush site is one of the communities identified with the MILF,” Tayong said.
He identified the fatalities as Richard Wacan, 26, and Ronald Lachica, 35, both members of Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) and residents of Barangay Bualan, Pikit, and Hasna Mohammad Buka, 39, who was three months pregnant.
Two school children, identified as Keise Mohammad Buka, 14 and Dante Boboy Jr., 16, were injured in the ambush that occurred at 1:45 p.m. in front of the Datu Dalandag National High School in the area.
The slain CAFGUs were on board a motorbike heading to Barangay Bualan from Poblacion Pikit when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them using M16 and M14 rifles. The housewife, on the other hand, was aboard a separate motorbike when hit by the volley of bullets fired towards the militiamen.
“She was accidentally hit during the ambush,” Tayong said. The three victims died on the spot while the injured were rushed to a hospital in the town proper.
Tayong said the ambush could have been triggered by a “rido” or family feud involving the CAFGUs and the armed group. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
