3 slain in separate Maguindanao shootings
COTABATO CITY—Amid an election gun ban being enforced across the Bangsamoro region, three people were killed and another was wounded in separate shootings in Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte on Thursday, police said.
The first attack occurred shortly after noon along the national highway in Barangay Salbu, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, where motorcycle-riding gunmen opened fire on a Hyundai pickup truck.
The victims were identified as businessman Kamarudin Mangansakan Ebus of Penafrancia Village, Cotabato City, his driver, Mohalidin Latip Esmael, and their companion, Kenedie Abdul Adin, a laborer and also a Cotabato City resident.
Ebus and Esmael were killed, while Adin was wounded.
Capt. Steffi Salanguit, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said the three were traveling from Datu Unsay, Maguindanao del Sur, to Cotabato City when the gunmen attacked as they passed through a portion of the highway undergoing road repairs.
The shooting occurred about 200 meters from an Army checkpoint, Salanguit said.
Manhunt
Police launched a manhunt for the assailants and continued investigating the motive for the attack.
About eight hours later, at around 8 p.m., an unidentified gunman shot tricycle driver Chopin Mohammad Blah along the diversion road in Barangay Capiton, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte.
Blah was declared dead on arrival at the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center, police said.
Police were investigating the motive and working to identify the gunman.
The shootings occurred as police and military authorities enforced the election gun ban ahead of next month’s Bangsamoro Parliamentary Election.
