Two roving merchants killed, robbed in Maguindanao del Sur

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The police and military have been searching for three robbers who killed two men selling topical skin care products and took their cash collections on Tuesday in Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao del Sur.

Col. Roel Sermese, Maguindanao del Sur police director, told reporters Thursday that victims Anjo Binarao, 25, and Juanito Lorente, 24, both died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds.

Binarao and Lorente, residents of nearby Midsayap town in Cotabato province, were selling their merchandise from one village to another when three men on motorcycles flagged them down in Barangay Linantangan.

The assailants shot the two merchants with pistols, killing them both instantly.

Lt. Aksad Lacson, municipal police chief, told reporters that witnesses have confirmed that the suspects took the bags of the victims containing money and other valuables as they escaped.

Lacson and local officials, among them members of the multi-sector municipal peace and order council, said they are validating the exact identities of the attackers based on information shared by residents of Barangay Linantangan.

A number of roving merchants from towns and cities outside had been robbed and killed in different areas in Maguindanao del Sur in the past six years.