BLAST VICTIM. Motorcycle mechanic Reformido Regulacion, 64, (left) sustained shrapnel injuries on his thighs and lower legs after a man tossed a hand grenade at his motorbike shop in Pikit, North Cotabato on Friday (Oct. 7, 2022). Another victim, identified as Abdulrauf Mustapha Pangatong, 29, was injured in the same attack. (Photo courtesy of Pikit MPS)
MIDSAYAP, North Cotabato – Two women were killed while three other women and three men were wounded in four separate attacks in Pikit and M’lang municipalities in North Cotabato in the past two days, police said Saturday.
In M’lang, Lt. Col. Realan Mamon, municipal town police chief, said Althea Luceno, 22, and her aunt, Tisay Beltran, 35, were killed when their house was sprayed with bullets by armed men in Barangay Tawan-Tawan at 9 p.m. Thursday.
"No forcible entry was reported and it indicates the attackers could be known to the victims," he said.
Brig. Gen. Jamili Macaraeg, police director for the Soccsksargen region, has ordered a deeper investigation to establish the identities of the attackers and give justice to the victims.
Also on Thursday, three women riding on a motorcycle were wounded in an ambush by still unidentified gunmen at about 4 p.m. in Barangay Gli-Gli of Pikit town.
Maj. Maxim Peralta, town police chief, identified the victims as Rosana Samama Mabandas, Gihan Mamintal Abdulraman, Nainon Dagadas Gani, who all sustained bullet wounds in different parts of their bodies.
“They (were) traversing a dirt road in Barangay Gli-Gli when one of two men waiting by the roadside opened fire on them without provocation,” Peralta said.
Meanwhile, in the same municipality on Friday, two men were hurt when attackers riding in tandem tossed a hand grenade at a motorcycle shop in Barangay Poblacion at 4:30 p.m.
Peralta identified the injured locals as Abdulrauf Mustapha Pangatong, 29, and Reformido Regulacion, 64, of barangays Poblacion and Lagunde, respectively.
“Pangatong was on board his motorcycle at a full stop in front of the shop owned by the Regulacions along Fedel Street when the perpetrators zipped by and lobbed a hard object (that) then exploded,” Peralta said.
The victims sustained shrapnel injuries in the stomach and thighs and are undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
Earlier on the same day, Rodolfo Gornez, 74, a retired militiaman, was injured when gunmen ambushed him and his motorcycle driver in Barangay Panicupan, Pikit.
Peralta said Gornez sustained non-fatal injuries while motorcycle driver Salim Garcia, 29, was unscathed in the incident.
Garcia rushed the injured Gornez to the nearest infirmary in the town. (PNA)
