Driver dead, 2 hurt in Maguindanao del Sur highway robbery

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A driver of a freezer-type van loaded with ice cream in containers of various sizes was killed while his two helpers were wounded in an attack by robbers in Barangay Timbangan in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur on Monday afternoon, January 20.

Rey Balmores, died on the spot when men riding motorcycles shot him repeatedly while he was driving their delivery van at a secluded stretch of a highway in Barangay Timbangan.

His killers immediately alighted from their motorcycles as the vehicle stopped and, at gunpoint, took a bag containing a still undetermined amount of cash collections from his two companions, Harris Ampatuan and Reymond Bajas, who were both wounded in the attack.

Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters on Tuesday, January 21, that the victims had just delivered their merchandise to contacts in towns around Shariff Aguak and were to return to their office in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte when the gunmen pulled off the daring heist.

Shariff Aguak Mayor Akmad Ampatuan condemned the atrocity and offered an earnest cash incentive for any information leading to the arrest of the robbers.

The mayor told reporters that he had instructed all barangay officials in Timbangan to help police investigators identify the culprits, now subject of an extensive hunt by personnel of the Shariff Aguak Municipal Police Station and the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Police Office.