Gunmen behind Cotabato ambush identified
COTABATO CITY— Police have identified the gunmen behind the fatal ambush of a Moro farmer, his preschool-aged son and his nephew in Carmen, Cotabato, on Saturday morning, February 1.
The victims, Norhan Alim Makulintang, his five-year-old son and nephew, a Grade 3 pupil, were riding a motorcycle when they were shot with pistols and M16 assault rifles by gunmen positioned along a highway in Barangay General Luna in Carmen.
Makulintang and his son died at the scene while his nephew passed away in a hospital a few hours later.
The slain 29-year-old Makulintang, a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, was first identified by his relatives as Norman Makasasa, his alias in the MILF.
Col. Gilbert Tuzon, Cotabato provincial police director, told reporters on Sunday, February 2, that local officials and residents of Barangay General Luna, an agricultural enclave in Carmen, have positively identified the gunmen responsible for the killings of Makulintang and the two children.
Tuzon added that local officials have committed to assisting in building strong criminal cases against the suspects, whose names he declined to release until the full documentation of the incident is completed, a necessary step for prosecution.
The ambush victims, residents of Barangay Pagangan in Aleosan, Cotabato, were on their way to Kabacan town after visiting relatives in Carmen when they were ambushed in Barangay General Luna by gunmen, who immediately fled the scene in a minivan without license plates