2 teachers killed in Basilan ambush

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Unidentified gunmen ambushed three teachers in Lamitan, Basilan, on Monday afternoon, killing two of them and wounding the other, the Basilan police reported Tuesday.

Senior Supt. Mario Dapillosa, Basilan police chief, identified the fatalities as the couple Rodolfo and Gloria Saavedra. Critically wounded was Joy Cubico.

Dapillosa said the victims were going home from school to Isabela City on a single motorcycle when they were fired at in Barangay Maloong in Lamitan City around 5 p.m.

He said the assailants fled with the motorcycle that Rodolfo Saavedra was driving.

“The Saavedra couple died on the spot while Cubico was rushed to a hospital,” he said.

Dapillosa said the police were still trying to determine the identities and the motive of the perpetrators.