Maguindanao del Sur gun attacks: 3 killed, 2 hurt

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Three people, including a volunteer community watchman, were killed while two others were wounded in a string of gun attacks across three towns in Maguindanao del Sur over just three days.

Jordan Balayman, a member of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team (BPAT), died of multiple gunshot wounds after he and his companions were ambushed by gunmen in a minivan while on duty near a gasoline station in the town center of Shariff Aguak on Sunday afternoon.

Shariff Aguak Mayor Akmad Ampatuan and officials from the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region told reporters yesterday that the incident left two other BPAT members wounded.

The suspects fled the scene and are now the subject of a joint manhunt by operatives from the Shariff Aguak Municipal Police Station and units of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade.

Authorities noted that three BPAT members have been killed in a series of gun attacks in different areas of Shariff Aguak in the three weeks leading up to the May 12 elections.

Local executives and police believe the incidents are related, and are working together to identify and prosecute those responsible.

The Shariff Aguak shooting followed the fatal ambush of a Muslim villager, Lakmudin Uga, in the nearby town of Pandag on May 16.