1 of 5 persons hurt on Cotabato City ambush dies 

Police Scene of the Crime Operatives conduct post-crime investigation at Mabini Street, Cotabato City after the Toyota van of Edris Ayunan Pasawiran was ambushed by still unidentified gunmen on Friday night, June 7, 2024. | PHOTO: DXMS Radio

COTABATO CITY — One of the five wounded victims of an ambush targeting a village official in this city on Friday night died at the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center (CRMC), a police official said.

Major John Vincent Bravo, station commander of Cotabato City’s police station 1, told the Inquirer on Monday that Michael Avila, who suffered gunshot wounds on his head, was declared dead at 4 a.m. on Saturday, June 8.

Bravo said four of Avila’s companions were already in stable condition, with only the last one left in the hospital.

READ: Off-duty cop slain in Cotabato ambush

The five were aboard the Toyota Hi-Ace van owned by Edris Ayunan Pasawiran, a village chair of Barangay Kalanganan 2, believed to be the target of the ambush along Mabini Street, Barangay Bagua 3 here around 8 p.m. on Friday, June 7.

Pasawiran, 42, was unhurt amid the rain of bullets fired by his attackers onto his Toyota van.

His family believed he was the target of the gun attack and that the incident was politically motivated.

Pasawiran’s brother Bimbo Ayunan, chair of Mother Barangay Kalanganan, told an interview that it was not the first attempt on his brother’s life.

Police are still investigating an abandoned vehicle found on Rosary Heights 3, about three kilometers away from the ambush site, suspecting it to be the getaway vehicle used by the attackers.

The Suzuki minivan that the police recovered also incurred bullet shots and had a caliber .45 pistol with bloodstains inside.

“We are coordinating with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to check on the vehicle’s chassis number,” Bravo said. Investigators were still trying to retrieve footage from a closed-circuit television (CCTV) installed near the crime scene.