BARMM execs condemn ambush that killed 5 cops
COTABATO CITY—Authorities in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) condemned the deadly ambush in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur, that left five police officers dead and three others critically injured last Saturday night.
Capt. Steffi Salanguit, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office BARMM, identified the slain officers as Patrolmen Kenneth Perocho, Al-Fatah Marohom, Amil Bangsa, Arsenal Sivih and Sayed Ridwan, all members of the 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company of the Maguindanao del Sur Police Provincial Office. They were pronounced dead on arrival at the Bangsamoro Regional Hospital and Medical Center in Datu Hoffer.
The injured include Capt. Alfred Gregory, Staff Sgt. Adam Kamarudin Kansi and Senior Master Sgt. Abubakar Lauban.
The ambush occurred at 9:10 p.m. last Saturday along a remote stretch in Barangay Poblacion Mother, Shariff Aguak. Salanguit blamed the Daulah Islamiyah group for the attack.
“This deliberate and cowardly act against law enforcement officers will not be tolerated,” said Brig. Gen. Jaysen de Guzman, BARMM police regional director, in a statement on Sunday.
He added: “We assure the public that all necessary measures are being undertaken to bring those responsible to justice and hold them fully accountable.”
The Army’s 601st Infantry Battalion (IB) joined police forces in the manhunt, while the 90th IB maintains security in downtown Shariff Aguak, and newly trained troops under the 34th IB have been deployed to the outskirts.
Manhunt
Lt. Col. Ronald Suscano, spokesperson for the 6th Infantry Division, urged residents to remain calm, noting that soldiers are on alert and ready to respond to any security disruptions.
“The brazen attack happened in the poblacion, and the perpetrators managed to escape quickly. The policemen were on routine patrol, and it seems the suspects had studied their routine,” Suscano told the Inquirer in Filipino.
This is the third ambush against police officers in Maguindanao since 2017. On Dec. 31, 2018, a roadside bombing along the route to Camp Akilan killed one police officer and wounded five others. On June 14, 2023, two police officers were killed and four others were injured in another ambush by suspected extremists in the same barangay.
Gov’t response
Bangsamoro Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua also condemned the attack, calling it “a threat to peace and order in [the] BARMM and the Bangsamoro.”
He directed BARMM ministries to coordinate with law enforcement to ensure the perpetrators are identified and held fully accountable.
Macacua also visited the three wounded officers at Cotabato Regional and Medical Center, meeting with Gov. Datu Ali Midtimbang and De Guzman.
“We all agreed that the perpetrators should be identified and held accountable,” Macacua shared.
“To the perpetrators, you better surrender because we will not let this pass without you being held accountable,” he added.
Midtimbang also called on residents to remain calm, vigilant and cooperate with authorities, stressing that “those responsible for this attack will be pursued relentlessly and held fully accountable under the law.”
The attack has prompted intensified police and military operations in Shariff Aguak and nearby towns as authorities continue the pursuit of the suspects.
In a viral social media post, the wife of one of the slain policemen shared how she heard gunfire in the background as her husband spoke to her for the last time.
“When you called me and said you and your companions were ambushed, I could hear bursts of gunfire while you kept telling me you love me and our child, Ezra,” she wrote.
The woman, whose identity is not immediately known, said her husband struggled to breathe during the call as he urged her to reach Shariff Aguak as quickly as possible.
“When you said you could hardly breathe, I felt like I couldn’t breathe either,” she added in the vernacular.
Grieving, she expressed the depth of her loss: “Our life will never be the same again. Dear God, please accept my husband into your paradise. He was a good man. My love, we will see each other someday.”
The wife also addressed the attackers: “I hope your conscience will punish you.”
******
Get real-time news updates: inqnews.net/inqviber
