3 killed in another gun attack in Cotabato City

COTABATO CITY — Gunmen armed with assault rifles killed three people and seriously wounded two others in an attack near Timako Hill in Barangay Kalanganan 2, western Cotabato City, early Friday, October 23.

The incident came a day after two Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel, Seaman 2nd Class Reniel Agpalo and Apprentice Seaman Louther John Vitor, were killed in an ambush in Cotabato City on Thurdsday afternoon, October 22.

Captain Steffie Salanguit, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters Friday noon that the attack in Barangay Kalangangan 2 killed Datu Maceda Taup Yusop, Mokamad Tabunaway Lanta and Reni Hamsa.

Their companions, Daryl Bagundang Oliveros and June Tabunaway Lanta, were seriously wounded and taken by barangay officials to the Cotabato Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Initial reports receied by Cotabato City police director Col. Jibin Bongcayao from investigators and intelligence operatives who responded to the incident said the victims were gathered near a fishpond close to Timako Hill in Barangay Kalanganan 2 when armed men attacked them with combat rifles.

Yusop, Lanta and Hamsa died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.

Barangay officials and Moro community leaders in the area said the attackers fled in a white Toyota Hilux pickup truck.

In a separate incident on Thursday, gunmen killed with 9 millimeter pistols killed PCG personnel Reniel Agpala and Louther John Vitor in an ambush along Roman Vilo Street in Cotabato City, near the riverside station where they were assigned.

Agpalo and Vitor were riding in a maroon Toyota Innova with their immediate superior, Coast Guard Commander John Paul Cabarrubias, when armed men opened fire on the vehicle. The attackers fled on a motorcycle amid the commotion cased by the gunshots.

Both Coast Guard personnel sustained fatal gunshot wounds to different parts of their bodies.