3 in Lanao Sur governor’s ambush face raps

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The police on Friday filed criminal cases against three from the group behind the February 17 ambush of Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. that left him wounded and four of his companions dead.

Brig. Gen. Guyguyon, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters Saturday personnel of the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office and the Maguing Municipal Police Station together prepared the cases against the three suspects.

Guyguyon said the three suspects, Lomala Baratumo, Oscar Gandawali and Acsanie Hadji Salic, were identified with the help local officials as among the gunmen who fired at the convoy of Adiong while motoring through a stretch of a highway in Barangay Bato-Bato in Maguing.

“Efforts to identify the other suspects are still underway. Corresponding criminal cases shall be filed against them too,” Guyguyon said.

Four persons in one of the vehicles in the convoy, the policemen Juraiz Adiong, Aga Sumandar and Jalil Cosain, each with a patrolman rank, and a civilian driver named Hassanor Pundaodaya, died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds sustained in the attack.

Adiong was hit by a rifle bullet in his right hip while his executive assistant, Ali Tabao, was wounded in the leg.

Local officials and senior members of different multi-sector municipal peace and order councils in Lanao del Sur told reporters Saturday Baratumo, Gandawali and Salic lead different groups distributing marijuana and shabu in upland towns in the first district of Lanao del Sur.

Adiong and his companions were ambushed about four hours after personnel of the Lanao del Sur Police and different units under PRO-BAR uprooted more than 20,000 fully grown marijuana shrubs in a secluded area also in Barangay Bato-Bato.

Baratumo, Gandawali and Salic are also known for their links with a local terrorist group, the Dawlah Islamiya that has a reputation for bombing establishments and buses if owners refuse to shell out “protection money” on a monthly basis.