2 students slain in ambush in Cotabato town

INQUIRER FILES

COTABATO CITY – Two Grade 11 students on their way to school were killed in an ambush by still unidentified gunmen in Pikit, Cotabato province at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, police said.

Police Lt. Warren James Caang, spokesperson of Cotabato police provincial office, said Muslimin Nanalong and Rafael Abu Indong, both 18 and senior high school students at the Noorul Eilm Academy Foundation Inc. in Barangay Inug-og, were on their way to school when attacked by gunmen believed to be riding on separate motorbikes.

Caang said Nanalong was killed on the spot while Indong was pronounced dead in a hospital in Barangay Poblacion Pikit.

According to Caang, the victims could be considered “collateral damage” of an ongoing family feud or “rido” in the area.

He said both had no criminal records and had never been involved in violence or any wrongdoing.

The killing of Nanalong and Indong came 18 days after two minors, both aged 15, were killed in an ambush by armed men in Barangay Poblacion, Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur about 80 kilometers from Pikit town of Cotabato province.

Aboard a sedan car driven by a companion, both victims were heading for Mamasapano in Maguindanao del Sur when waylaid along the national highway not far from a militia detachment at about 5 p.m. on Nov. 14.

Then Shariff Aguak town police chief Lt. Colonel Reggie Albellera said the victims, Johari Moksin and his cousin Hamod Moksin, both residents of Barangay Kulalo, Mamasapano, were killed when the country was observing Children’s Month aimed at raising awareness for the protection of children.