2 cops tagged in ambush-slay

COTABATO CITY — The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has tagged two policemen in the Nov. 1 ambush-killing of a municipal police chief and his five escorts in Malabang, Lanao del Sur.

Superintendent Robertpo Badian, director of the CIDG-ARMM, said witnesses have positively identified cousins PO1 Abdullah Balt Macuga and PO1 Jalal Balt Sarip as among the 10 gunmen who ambushed and killed SPO3 Corais Tampugao, police chief of Tubaran, Lanao del Sur, and five of his escorts.

The ambushers, armed with assault rifles and positioned on both sides of the highway in Malabang town, opened fire at the victims’ vehicle.

Tampugao’s group was bound for the town proper of Tubaran from Camp S.K. Pendatun in Parang, Maguindanao.

"The fatal ambush of SPO3 Tampugao, per investigation, was related to a standing rido (clan war) between the Balt and Tampugao families in Tubaran municipality. These two clans have been locked in a long bloody feud," Badian said.

He quoted religious and political leaders in Tubaran as saying that the animosity between the Balt and Tampugao families worsened in early 2005 when policemen, led by Tampugao himself, killed a rebel commander closely related to the Balts in an encounter.

"We learned from informants that the ambush of Tampugao and his escorts was an apparent retaliation for the killing of that rebel commander," he said.

Lanao del Sur officials said Macuga and Sarip, who both belong to the provincial police command, plotted the ambush with the help of their relatives in Malabang, about 10 kilometers away from Tubaran.

Badian said survivors of the ambush, including a certain Rainida Papandayan, have executed affidavits naming the two policemen as the ones who first fired at their vehicle.

The other ambushers, armed with M-14 and M-16 assault rifles, subsequently appeared from the roadsides and joined in the shooting frenzy.

Badian said criminal charges were filed last week against the ambushers, who are all still at large.