Gov't nurse killed, 2 hurt in Maguindanao ambush

DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao -- A nurse of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s humanitarian team was killed while two of her four companions, including two town councilors, were injured in an ambush at the highway in Barangay Tenorio here Saturday afternoon.

Registered nurse Betsy Yap, a staff nurse at the ARMM Humanitarian Emergency Action Response Team (HEART), was declared dead on arrival at the Notre Dame Hospital in Cotabato City, according to Capt. Arvin John Encinas, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

Those injured were identified as Jonathan Layson, the victims’ bodyguard and Crispin Beling, driver, all residents of South Upi, Maguindanao.

Contrary to earlier reports, the Datu Odin Sinsuat municipal police said South Upi, Maguindanao Councilors Beatrice Beling Yap and Reymundo Kinlat were not hurt in the incident.

Police said the victims were on board a Mitsubishi sedan car (LCJ-624) on their way to Cotabato City when a lone gunman opened fire at about 4:10 p.m. in a highway in Barangay Tenorio, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

The slain nurse, a daughter of Councilor Yap, was declared dead on arrival at the Notre Dame Hospital where the victims were brought following the incident.

Police said the vehicle was riddled with bullets from a. 45-caliber pistol that the suspect used based on empty shells recovered at the ambush site, a populated residential area situated some 500 meters away from Camp Siongco, the headquarters of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

The lone gunman fled onboard a motorbike. Police are still investigating the motive and identity of the attacker.

ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman, in a statement, condemned the attack saying killings have no place in a functioning democracy.

“As the people prepare to exercise their democratic rights in the upcoming barangay elections, acts of violence committed against public servants carry a chilling effect that go against the very grain of what democratic institutions stand for,” the governor said.

“Our humanitarian workers are at the frontlines in providing basic social services, and form the core of our emergency response in times of conflict and calamity,” Hataman said of Yap’s work as a public-spirited worker.

“We condemn this act of senseless violence, and we call on local government and law enforcement units to exert all efforts in ensuring that the killer will be brought to justice,” the governor stressed. (Noel Punzalan and Edwin Fernandez/PNA)