Highway patrol cop hurt in Cotabato gun attack

COTABATO — Two men riding a motorcycle shot and wounded a policeman assigned to the Cotabato Provincial Highway Patrol Team in an attack on Tuesday night, May 12, in Matalam town in Cotabato province. 

Police Senior Master Sgt. Noel Demate sustained superficial wounds to his chin and neck, according to local officials in Matalam, a town that has been rocked in recent months by a spate of grenade attacks and deadly shooting incidents, all of which remain unsolved.

Demate and his companions were inspecting vehicles passing through the town center of Matalam, one of the 17 towns in Cotabato, as part of a road safety and anti-carnapping operation when two men riding a motorcycle pulled over near him, drew pistols from their waists and opened fire.

Municipal officials and Col. Ramel Hojilla, Cotabato provincial police director, separately told reporters that Demate’s assailants managed to escape and are now the subject of an extensive manhunt by police and barangay officials in the municipality.

Demate was immediately brought to a hospital by emergency responders for treatment.

Hojilla said investigators from the Matalam Municipal Police Station and local officials are jointly exerting efforts to identify Demate's attackers for prosecution.