Barangay chairman, 3 others killed in Basilan ambush
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A fatal ambush in Basilan on Janaury 9 that left a barangay chairman and three others dead was an offshoot of a rido or clan war, officials said.
Bin Saudi Sarakil, chairman of Barangay Matata in Ungkaya Pukan, and three companions died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds.
They were together in a car that gunmen, positioned on one side of the road in Barangay Banah in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan, shot with assault rifles while passing by.
Col. Domingo Gobway, commander of the Army's 101st Infantry Brigade in Basilan, was quoted in radio reports as saying that the incident was triggered by an old grudge between Sarakil and adversaries in Ungkaya Pukan municipality.
Gobway, in charge of Joint Task Force Basilan, said the Abu Sayyaf was not involved in the ambush.
He said the group is almost non-existent in the island province. He said that there only around 10 remaining terrorists who are fugitives and whom local officials are trying to surrender.
Police Brig. Gen. Samuel Rodriguez, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said the Basilan provincial police and the 101st Infantry Brigade are investigating the ambush incident to determine the identities of the culprits for proper prosecution.
Rodriguez said the Basilan provincial government and local officials in Ungkaya Pukan are initiating interventions to ease the tension caused by the incident.
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