Soldiers sent to Maguindanao town on peacekeeping mission after village chair's ambush

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 21): Soldiers sent to Maguindanao town on peacekeeping mission after village chair's ambush

The Army's 6th Infantry Division has sent peacekeeping forces in a Maguindanao town where a village chair and member of the town council was ambushed and wounded Saturday. Col. Dickson Hermoso, 6th Infantry Division spokesman, said elements of the 6th Infantry Battalion have been deployed to Talitay, Maguindanao to maintain law and order and to back up the police in implementation of election gun ban.

At about 4 p.m. Saturday, Barangay Poblacion chairman Musanib Buisan and his two relatives were on board a tricycle when ambushed by gunmen as they enter the town proper. Musanip Buisan, also president of the Talitay Association of Barangay Chairmen, was wounded and two of his relatives were killed. Buisan, a member of the Talitay Sangguniang Bayan, was wounded in his abdomen and is now recuperating at a private hospital here.

Buisan, as ABC president, sits at the Sangguniang Bayan in an ex-officio capacity. His relatives, named only as Guiamad and Gantukan, were killed, the Maguindanao provincial police office said. Accompanied by his two relatives, Buisan on board a tricycle, was heading toward the town proper at about 4 p.m. when gunmen emerged from the roadside and opened fire. His relatives died on the spot. Police remained clueless on the motive of the attackers and their identities.

Hermoso said military intelligence are now helping the police identify the attackers. Elements of the 6th Infantry Battalion were also deployed in Talitay to prevent the escalation of conflict. Buisan is the second village official who survived an ambush since the election period started last Jan. 13.

Hermoso said Maj. Gen. Ceasar Ordoyo, 6th ID chief, has ordered military agents to help identify the ambushers of Buisan and Sonny Kadil, chairman of Barangay Pantar, Banisilan, North Cotabato last week. Kadil and his two unarmed escorts were on board a motorbike when ambushed by gunmen using assault rifles. Kadil survived the ambush but his two escorts, Takanda Mamukao and Muslimin Ampuan, were killed.

Following the separate ambuscades, Ordoyo ordered Army battalion commanders to take precautionary and preventive measures in their area of responsibility as the political climate started to heat up.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=489217