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John Unson - Philstar.com
March 2, 2026 | 5:16pm
The two Moro villagers ambushed by gunmen in Pikit, Cotabato, on Feb. 28, 2026, died instantly from bullet wounds sustained during the attack.
Photo courtesy of Philstar.com / John Unson
COTABATO CITY— Three Moro villagers were killed in separate ambushes in two neighboring towns in Cotabato province over just two days.
Merchant Kindato Maliga Dansalan was driving his tricycle, loaded with freshwater fish for delivery, when gunmen positioned along the highway in Purok 1, Barangay Lagumbingan, Midsayap, attacked him on Sunday, March 1, killing him instantly.
Officials from the Midsayap Municipal Police Station and the Cotabato Provincial Police Office told reporters on Monday, March 2, that the assailants immediately fled and are now the subject of a joint police-military manhunt.
Brig. Gen. Arnold Ardiente, director of the Police Regional Office 12, said Midsayap Mayor Rolando Sacdalan, presiding chairperson of the multi-sector Municipal Peace and Order Council, and barangay officials in Lagumbingan are assisting in swiftly resolving the case that left Dansalan, a resident of Barangay Damatog in Northern Kabuntalan, Maguindanao del Norte, dead.
Two other Moro villagers, relatives Alvin Mascud Alimat and Norhaya Mascud Alagasi, were also killed instantly by gunfire in a separate ambush on Saturday, February 28, in Barangay Kulambog, Pikit, Cotabato, not far from Midsayap.
The adjoining towns of Pikit and Midsayap, home to mixed Muslim and Christian communities, are both in the first district of Cotabato province in Region 12.
Local executives in Pikit and municipal police officials said Alagasi was riding in a tricycle driven by Alimat when they were attacked by pistol-wielding assailants, who immediately fled on a motorcycle.
Alimat and Alagasi, traveling toward the town proper of Pikit, both died at the scene, according to municipal officials and traditional Moro leaders who responded to the incident.
