Google map of Datu Salibo, Maguindanao province.
COTABATO CITY – A manhunt has been launched against gunmen on a motorbike who shot dead three men in the Maguindanao town of Datu Salibo over the weekend, a police official said Monday.
Colonel Arnold Santiago, Maguindanao police chief, said he has ordered the Mamasapano police office to work with the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion in pursuing the perpetrators.
Santiago identified the victims--who succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds--as Rassid Guiaman, 35; Ustadz Abdulgani, 37; and the unidentified man who was driving the motorbike that the two had hired. They are residents of Barangay Tuka, Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
The shooting occurred along a secluded section of the highway in Sitio Kurungan, Barangay Sambulawan, Datu Salibo, Maguindanao.
“They had just attended a celebration of Eid’l Fitr (end of fasting month for Muslims) in nearby Datu Piang, Maguindanao, and were heading for home when ambushed,” Santiago said.
Responding police found empty shells of .45-caliber pistol at the crime scene. Authorities are initially looking at “rido” (family feud) as a possible motive of the attack.
Meanwhile, police also announced the arrest of a wanted person in Barangay Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, also on Sunday.
Major Rommel dela Vega, chief of Datu Odin Sinsuat police office, identified the arrested suspect as Gerald Karlo Ignacio Cataluna, 32, of Palar Village, Barangay Awang.
Cataluna has a standing warrant of arrest for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) issued by the 12th Judicial Region, Branch 13, Cotabato City. (PNA)
