.png){kind=logo}
9 hours ago
2
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
John Unson - Philstar.com
April 5, 2026 | 4:09pm
Personnel of 6th Marine Battalion and the Cotabato City Police Office are now tightly guarding the Timako Hill in Cotabato City to prevent armed men from roaming in the forests in its surroundings.
Philstar.com / John Unson
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Combatants of the 6th Marine Battalion promptly drove away, using firepower, a group armed with assault rifles that attacked two men gathering firewood at the forested Timako Hill in Barangay Kalanganan 2 in this city on Saturday afternoon, April 4.
It was residents and Moro community leaders in Barangay Kalanganan 2, supporting the joint law-enforcement efforts of Mayor Bruce Matabalao and the Cotabato City Police Office, who led the Marines to the exact location of the gunmen who opened fire at Asraf Talusan Guialal, 33, and his 26-year-old relative, Zaldy Ali Guialal, enabling them to drive away the duo's attackers after a brief exchange of gunfire.
The Guialals, then gathering fallen dried tree branches at the Timako Hill near Cotabato City’s west coast, survived the attack unscathed.
Col. Jibin Bongcayao, director of the Cotabato City police, said the gunmen who shot them ran away when they sensed that more Marines, backed by armoured combat vehicles, were closing in.
Residents had told reporters that the gunmen who harassed the two firewood gatherers could have come from a beachfront area west of the Timako Hill. They assured to help Bongcayao and Matabalao identify the culprits for prosecution.
Bongcayao said Marine combatants and policemen found in the scene of the encounter a chainsaw, five magazines of 5.56 M16 assault rifles, 100 rounds of 5.56 millimeter ammunition and other personal belongings the the armed men left as they scampered away.
