2 recyclable scraps traders dead in Sultan Kudarat ambush

COTABATO CITY — Suspected extortionists killed two traders of recyclable scrap metal, plastic wares and home fixtures in an attack on Thursday afternoon in the seaside Palimbang town in Sultan Kudarat.

In separate statements Friday, the Palimbang Municipal Police Station and the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade confirmed the incident that left Eduardo Cabucos Jr. and Ricky Gaso dead.

Citing a report from the Palimbang MPS, Brig. Gen. Jimili Macaraeg, director of the Police Regional Office-12, said that Cabucos and Gaso, both residents of Kiamba town in Sarangani, were together in tricycle when they were attacked by gunmen positioned along a stretch of the highway in Barangay Baliango.

Villagers and traditional community elders had relayed to reporters that there is possibility that extortionists were behind the fatal ambush of Cabucos and Gaso for having refused to give money to a local gang that tried to extort from them early on.

Intelligence agents of the 603rd Infantry Brigade and investigators in the Palimbang MPS are cooperating in identifying the culprits behind the atrocity.