Tribesman dead, 2 hurt in motorcycle-backhoe collision

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March 14, 2026 | 6:00pm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A motorist died instantly while his two relatives were injured when the motorcycle they were riding together wiggled and slammed into a backhoe parked along a highway in Barangay Maitumaig in Datu Unsay, Maguindanao del Sur on Friday morning, March 13.

The driver of the motorcycle, the ethnic Teduray John Minted, died at the scene from injuries sustained in the accident.

Officials of the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Police Office and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region separately told reporters on Saturday that the two companions of Minted, Ugay and Joel, also both surnamed Minted, were immediately brought to a hospital by emergency responders for treatment.

The three of them were on their way home to the hinterland South Upi town in Maguindanao del Sur from a tribal enclave in Esperanza town in Sultan Kudarat province when the motorcycle they were riding together hit a large backhoe parked along the route.

Witnesses had told barangay officials and investigators from the Datu Unsay Municipal Police Station, who responded to the incident, that the motorcycle the victims were riding together first wiggled uncontrollably before it veered towards the backhoe.

Minted’s two injured relatives said he apparently lost control of his motorcycle after its steering bar locked accidentally due to a mechanical defect.

Minted’s cadaver was immediately fetched by relatives from Barangay Maitumaig and brought to South Upi, about 80 kilometers away, for proper burial.