Thursday, April 30, 2020

NoCot village councilman slain, chief hurt in ambush

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 30, 2020): NoCot village councilman slain, chief hurt in ambush (By Edwin Fernandez)



AMBUSHED. The bullet-riddled pickup truck of the Ambel clan that was waylaid in Barangay Marbel, Matalam, North Cotabato on Wednesday night (April 29, 2020). A village councilor of neighboring Barangay Kilada was killed while its village chairperson was hurt in the incident believed to be triggered by a deep-seated animosity between two clans in the area. (Photo courtesy of North Cotabato PPO)

Government forces have been deployed to the North Cotabato town of Matalam to prevent the escalation of armed conflict involving warring families following an ambush that killed a village councilman and wounded a village chairperson on Wednesday.

“Combined Army and police personnel have been positioned in the villages of Marbel and Kilada to act as peacekeepers,” Capt. Junrel Amotan, Matalam town police chief, said on Thursday.

Amotan said the deployment came after the 6:30 p.m. ambush in Barangay Matalam that killed Norodin Solaiman Ambel, 35, village councilor of neighboring Barangay Kilada.

“Ambel died on the spot,” he said.

Village chairperson Rowena de Leon, 45, of Barangay Kilada was critically injured in the same incident, Amotan added.

The victims were on board a red pickup truck heading for home from another village where they celebrated “buka” (breaking of the fast) when ambushed in Purok Tagumpay 2 of Barangay Marbel.

Also in the same vehicle but unhurt were Kilada village councilor Romeo Datu Ali Ambel, 54; Robert Ambel Datu Ali, 25; Datu Mauro Ambel Matalam; Alipin Onutin Ambel, 25; and Hamarodin Datu Ali Indao, 19, all Maguindanaons observing the fasting month of Ramadhan and residents of Barangay Kilada.

Initial police investigation indicated that the ambush was triggered by a long-standing family feud involving the Ambel clan and another Moro clan in Matalam.

“The ambush was being blamed (on) the group of Naig Naga who was locked in a ‘rido’ (family feud) with the Ambels,” Amotan said.

Crime scene investigators recovered 25 empty shells for M-16 and M-14 rifles at the ambush site.

Several families in the villages of Kilada and Matalam have fled to safer grounds as the Ambel clan vowed to retaliate against the perpetrators.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1101464

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