3 slain in separate gun attacks in Maguindanao provinces

Civilians mill around a bullet-ridden sedan car where unidentified gunmen killed two men during an ambush at 5 p.m. along the national highway in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (Photo courtesy of DXMS Radio)

COTABATO CITY — Three persons were killed in two separate gun attacks in Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur provinces on Thursday afternoon.

Two gunmen ambushed two cousins who were both on board a Honda Civic along the national highway in Shariff Aguak town, Maguindanao del Sur around 5 p.m.

Lt. Col. Reggie Albellera, Shariff Aguak police chief, identified the fatalities as Johari Moksin and Hamod Moksin, both of Barangay Kulalo, Mamasapano town, Maguindanao del Sur.

Citing police investigations, Albellera said the duo were coming from Isulan town, Sultan Kudarat, and were on their way home when they were waylaid near Barangay Labu-Labu Mother, Shariff Aguak.

Both died on the spot. The motive of the attack remains unknown, said Albellera.

Police found some 40 empty shells from an M16 rifle at the crime scene.

Hours earlier, an unidentified gunman shot dead a female employee of the Ministry of Public Works in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MPW-BARMM).

Lt. Col. Roy Subsuban, Datu Odin Sinsuat police chief, identified the victim as Darlene Pacete, 36, of Sitio Mintex, Tamontaka, in Datu Odin Sinsuat town, who works in the maintenance section of MPW.

Pacete was having lunch at a roadside carinderia in Sitio Grotto, Barangay Tamontaka, when she was shot.

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She sustained a gunshot wound in the head and died instantly. The suspect fled on a motorbike.

Subsuban told reporters the police have launched a manhunt for the suspect, adding that the motive of the attack is not yet known.

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