Soldier, companion hurt in Maguindanao del Sur ambush

COTABATO CITY — An off-duty motorist soldier was wounded in the neck in an ambush at a stretch of the Cotabato-Davao Highway in Pagalungan, Maguindanao del Sur that also left his civilian companion injured on Wednesday.

Col. Roel Sermese, director of the Maguindanao del Sur provincial police, told reporters on Thursday that the victims, Private 1st Class Roberto Dela Cruz Desierto Jr., and Eugenio Lamoste Gurang were riding a motorcycle headed somewhere when they were attacked by pistol-wielding men in Barangay Galakit, Pagalungan.

Desierto, who belonged to the Army’s 92nd Infantry Battalion, was assigned in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur.

Desierto’s motorcycle swerved toward the side of the highway and crashed after he was hit by a bullet in the neck, Sermese said, citing a report from the Pagalungan Municipal Police Station.

Gurang, who fell from the motorcycle as it flipped, rolled over and landed at one side of the concrete highway, sustained abrasions in his arms and legs.

Their attackers hurriedly escaped when they sensed that the gunshots that reverberated through the scene caused a commotion among villagers in houses nearby.

Sermese said responding policemen and emergency responders from the Pagalungan local government unit immediately brought the duo to the hospital for treatment.