10 soldiers, militiaman wounded in Basilan ambush

COTABATO CITY — Ten personnel from the Army’s 45th Infantry Battalion and a militiaman were wounded in an ambush in Barangay Badja in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan on Monday morning, October 5.

Initial reports from local executives in Basilan to the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region at Camp SK Pendatun in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, said three of the 11 wounded military personnel were in critical condition. They were immediately airlifted by a Philippine Air Force helicopter to a hospital at the headquarters of the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City.

Officials of the Basilan Provincial Police Office stated in their initial report to PRO-BAR that the 10 soldiers and a member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) were traveling in separate vehicles to Isabela City in Basilan when they were ambushed by gunmen positioned along a highway in Southern Bauno Dagao area of Barangay Badja in Tipo-Tipo.

Tipo-Tipo is one of the 11 towns in Basilan, a component province of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The province also has two cities, Lamitan and Isabela.

Police Captain Steffie Salanguit, spokesperson for PRO-BAR, told reporters at noon Monday that the ambush victims, 2Lt. June Joseph Madla, Staff Sgt. Allan Veniegas, Sgt. Rolando Tumbali Jr., Sgt. Carinio Guyod, Cpl. Roel Hagonoy, Cpl. Anton Gregory De Guzman, Privates First Class Glen Estardo, Mark Anthony Abianares, Jay Taripe and Almer Sinarellos and the CAFGU member Nursifa Asani, sustained gunshot wounds to different parts of their bodies.

Local executives had informed PRO-BAR that the victims, led by 45th IB’s commanding officer, Lt. Col. Franco Baylon, were traveling in three KM450 light Army trucks and three other civilian vehicles. They were on their way to the headquarters of the 101st Infantry Brigade in Isabela City via Lamitan City when they gunmen armed with assault rifles fired at them from one side of the highway in Southern Bauno Dagao area of Tipo-Tipo.

Local executives said they were certain that the ambush was carried out by the group of long-wanted suspect Saddam Siddick in retaliation for the death of his wife, Nermalyn Musa-Siddick, who was also wanted for heinous crimes. Musa-Siddick was killed in a brief clash last week with policemen and soldiers who were serving arrest warrants on the couple for high-profile criminal cases pending before different courts in Basilan.

Policemen and soldiers had planned to peacefully arrest the couple at their hideout then in Barangay Baimbing, Lamitan City. However, the couple and their followers drew their guns, prompting a shootout that left Musa-Siddick dead. Siddick and his armed companions managed to flee before the police and soldiers could surround the area.

Siddick is also known in Basilan for his alleged involvement in large-scale peddling of shabu in the province, coddling wanted persons in exchange for money and extortion activities targeting local traders and owners of public transport operators plying routes in areas where he operates.

Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, acting commander of the WestMinCom in Zamboanga City and Police Brig. Gen. Christopher Abecia, director of PRO-BAR, separately told reporters that their units in Basilan were jointly searching for the gunmen behind the Monday morning's ambush in South Bauno Dagao, Barangay Badja.