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Doctors attend to a wounded policeman, inset, as investigators cordon the site of an ambush in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao del Sur. The Saturday night attack led to the death of five police officers and the wounding of three others.
John Felix Unson
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao del Sur, Philippines — Five policemen were killed while three others were wounded in an ambush in Barangay Mother Poblacion on Saturday night, the Philippine National Police said.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. condemned the attack, describing it as a “senseless and cowardly ambush.”
“This attack will not go unanswered. Justice will be swift, certain and uncompromising,” Nartatez said.
The PNP has launched hot pursuit operations in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to identify and arrest the perpetrators, he added.
The victims, all assigned with the 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company under the Maguindanao del Sur police provincial office, were heading back to their headquarters at Camp Akilan after patrol operations when the unidentified gunmen opened fire at 9:10 p.m. along Maguindanao Street.
Police identified the slain personnel as Patrolmen Kenneth Perocho, Al-Fatah Marohom, Amil Bangsa, Arsenal Sivih and Sayed Ridwan.
Lt. Alfred Gregory, S/Sgt. Adam Kansi and Pat. Abubakar Lauban were wounded and brought by emergency responders to a hospital for treatment.
Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua condemned the attack and ordered coordination among authorities to ensure a thorough investigation.
Shariff Aguak Vice Mayor Hadji Oping Ampatuan said authorities would not allow “fear and chaos to prevail” in the town.
Capt. Steffi Salanguit, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said the assailants managed to escape before responding police units and volunteer community watchmen could reach the scene.
Brig. Gen. Jaysen de Guzman, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region police director, condemned the ambush and ordered units to conduct a pursuit operation as well as for investigators to identify and arrest the assailants.
“Our investigators and intelligence operatives are out to identify the assailants so we can prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” De Guzman said.
Nartatez extended condolences to the families of the slain officers, saying their “bravery and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
Saturday night’s ambush near Camp Akilan was the third since 2018. The site has been tagged as a hotspot.
Gunmen had killed and wounded police officers in similar attacks at different stretches of the same road that link the camp to the center of Shariff Aguak – one on Jan. 1, 2018 and another on June 15, 2023.
In January, gunmen targeted the bulletproof vehicle of Shariff Aguak Mayor Akmad Ampatuan Sr. with a B40 anti-tank rocket at a busy spot in the town center.
Ampatuan and his escorts survived the blast.
