COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 5 Aug) – Three people were killed in a daring motorcycle attack in Libungan, North Cotabato Sunday morning, police said.
Senior Supt. Danilo Peralta, director of the provincial police office, said the incident happened in the tranquil highway in Barangay Baguer in Libungan.
He said four male passengers were aboard the motorcycle on their way to the municipality Pikit, also in North Cotabato, when yet another group on another motorcycle fired upon them. One, however, survived.
Peralta said that the victims may have been followed by the assailants all the way from Cotabato City. “We can say the assailants are professional hitman or hired killers based of the way they initiated the killing,” he added.
Police identified the fatalities as Usman Kanting, Normi Usman and Budin Jamil all residents of Campo Muslim, Cotabato City. They all reportedly sustained gunshot wounds in the head from a caliber .45 pistol.
Abdul Racman Talib, 42, who teaches at an Aravic school, was wounded and is now recuperating in an undisclosed hospital, police said.
Police said the victims were on their way to attend an Islamic symposium.
“They may be tailed since they left Cotabato City and the suspects took advantage of the serenity of the highway which is far from a populated area,” Peralta said.
Mitch Sumera, a resident of Barangay Baguer, rushed to the scene after hearing the burst of fires, took pictures and uploaded these on her Facebook account.
On her wall she said the attack was so brazen since all of the victims were shot in the head.
The provincial police office has sent investigators to Campo Muslim in Cotabato City to get further details but ended up empty handed because the grieving relatives were busy burying their dead, which is the usual practice among Muslims.
Police is still clueless as to the motive.
“We will wait until the lone survivor will give the full details of the incident or could provide us with sufficient background to this manslaughter,” Peralta said.
