2 community watchmen killed in Basilan ambush

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Two volunteer community watchmen, both known for their extensive support to the anti-narcotics campaign of the police, were killed in an ambush in Sumisip, Basilan on Friday, October 25.

Citing a report from the Basilan Provincial Police Office, Brig. Gen. Romeo Jaime Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters on Saturday that Hasid Bidalul and Ridzman Asdaman were riding a motorcycle together when they were attacked by gunmen positioned along a road on Barangay Tumahubong, a hinterland area in Sumisip.

The ethnic Yakans Bidalul and Asdaman, who are members of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team (BPAT) under the Sumisip local government unit and the local police, both died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds sustained in the attack.

Bidalul and Asdaman are both known for their extensive support to the joint law-enforcement operations of personnel of the Sumisip Municipal Police Station and their LGU, according to local officials, among them senior members of the multi-sector Sumisip Municipal Peace and Order Council.

The gunmen behind the duo’s fatal ambush managed to escape before responding BPAT members and policemen arrived at the scene.