Alamada Mayor Ernesto Concepcion said the police are now initiating peaceful means to defuse tension in Upper Tali—tayen, a hinterland community where heavily armed men staged the ambush, which also wounded three other villagers.
The slain villagers — Sandatu Sultan, 28; Manap Agal, 29; Timbura Malidas, 10; Didayen, 46, and Gumbay, 40, both surnamed Malindingan; and Badrira Maan, 24 — were on their way to the market in a nearby barangay when they were fired upon, killing them on the spot.
Their three wounded companions were identified as Kalasuma Malides, 35; Sigma Mama, 30; and Nur Saddam Agal, 11.
Army intelligence sources said residents of Upper Talitayen are known to be supportive of the military and police’s campaign against MILF marauders in Alamada, a hinterland town in the first district of North Cotabato.
The sources said the victims had refused to pay "protection money" to MILF emissaries a week before the ambush.
Concepcion said police are now trying to determine if the ambushers were the same people behind the attack on a nearby farming village three weeks ago, which left four farmers dead and two others wounded.