Banana plantation security chief hurt in ambush by armed men in Maguindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Unidentified armed men ambushed and wounded a chief security officer of a multinational cavendish banana plantation in Datu Abdullah Sangki town in Maguindanao on Thursday morning.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, speaking for the 6th Infantry Division, said the victim, identified only as a certain Mr. Fernandez, was on board a company-owned vehicle en route to the plantation in the interior villages of Datu Abdullah Sangki when gunmen fired at him.

Army and police personnel have been pursuing the suspected gunmen while Fernandez was rushed to a hospital in Tacurong City, Hermoso said.

Fernandez works as chief security officer of Delinanas Development Company, which has vast banana farms in Datu Abdullah Sangki.

Hermoso said the wounded security officer was escorting visiting company executives on their way to a packing plant in the center of the banana plantation when their attackers, positioned at one side of the road, suddenly emerged and opened fire.

The gunmen hurriedly fled when company security guards arrived, backed by soldiers and policemen.

The banana plantation in Abdullah Sangki was one of the multi-national firms that invested in Maguindanao in the last two years.