Trigger warning: Graphic violence
COTABATO CITY — Gunmen on a motorcycle killed a Moro couple who were moneylenders in an attack in Barangay Pagagawan, Montawal, Maguindanao del Sur, on Saturday afternoon, October 19.
In an initial report released on Sunday morning, Brig. Gen. Romeo Jaime Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office, stated that Soliven Salakob and his wife, Sempak Abas Salakob, both died at the scene from multiple bullet wounds.
The victims' moneylending operation extended through the towns of Montawal and Pagalungan in Maguindanao del Sur, as well as the nearby areas of Kabacan, Matalam, Aleosan, and Midsayap in Cotabato province, including its capital, Kidapawan City.
Local officials and police investigators told reporters on Sunday that the couple were riding a motorcycle on their way to Kidapawan City when they were attacked by two motorcycle-riding gunmen along the Cotabato-Davao Highway in Barangay Pagagawan, Montawal.
The duo first flagged down the victims at gunpoint, forced them to hand over their bags containing their cash collections and repeatedly shot them with pistols when they refused.
Relatives of Salakob and his wife told reporters that there is a possibility the two men targeted them deliberately due to significant unpaid cash loans.
“They had problems in collecting payments from clients who had loaned big amounts of money,” a cousin of Salakob, who requested anonymity, said.
Witnesses reported that the two gunmen first shouted invectives at the Salakobs in the Maguindanaon vernacular before gunshots were heard at the scene.
The assailants took the Salakobs' bags and removed items from their pockets before fleeing on their motorcycle.