Maranao couple killed, two hurt in Lanao del Norte ambush

COTABATO CITY— A Maranao couple got killed while two others were wounded in an ambush at a stretch of a highway in Barangay Magpatao in Lala, Lanao del Norte on Thursday morning.

Major Angelo Rivel, police chief of Lala municipality, told reporters at noontime Thursday that the fatalities, Cocoy Ariong Acampong and Jehan Macadaag Acampong and their companions, Razul Anguie Ameril and Alim Casar Tawantawan, were in a car on their way to Baroy town in Lanao del Norte when gunmen along the route shot them with pistols as they got close.

The car carrying them, driven by Macadaag, who was hit by bullets in the head, swerved towards one side of the highway and hit a roadside protective concrete barrier, damaging the vehicle. Their ambushers had immediately escaped using getaway motorcycles. 

The cadavers of the Macadaags were immediately brought to their home by relatives, to be buried immediately in keeping with Islamic tradition of burying the dead within 24 hours from time of death.

Col. Sandy Vales, director of the Lanao del Norte provincial police, has directed the personnel of the Lala Municipal Police Station to enlist the help of barangay officials in the hometown of the slain Macadaags and their relatives in putting closure to the deadly incident.