Maguindanao teacher dies 10 days after ambush

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 19, 2023): Maguindanao teacher dies 10 days after ambush (By Edwin Fernandez)

POST-CRIME INVESTIGATION. Police conducted post crime investigation following the ambush of a public school teacher in Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Maguindanao del Sur, on June 8, 2023. The victim, 32-year-old Israel Paguital (inset), died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Sultan Kudarat province on Sunday (June 18, 2023). (Photo courtesy of Datu Anggal Midtimbang MPS)

TALAYAN, Maguindanao del Sur – After fighting for life in the past 10 days, a teacher ambushed by unidentified gunmen in Datu Anggal Midtimbang town in this province on June 8 died while undergoing treatment Sunday.

Maj. Jun Olis, Datu Anggal Midtimbang police chief, said Israel Paguital, a teacher of the Datu Anggal Midtimbang Elementary School, expired on June 18 in a medical facility in Isulan town, Sultan Kudarat.

Paguital, 32, was driving his car (PMO-480) heading toward the school when he was fired upon by motorcycle-riding gunmen at about 7 a.m. at Sitio Matalam in Barangay Midtimbang.

The victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds from a .45-caliber pistol.

Olis said police are still determining the identities of the attackers and the motive behind the attack.

Relatives and co-teachers claimed he has no known enemies.

He was the second teacher killed in Maguindanao del Sur after teacher Benjie Maon of the Mileb Elementary School in nearby Radjah Buayan, Maguindanao del Sur, was killed in an ambush in Sultan sa Barongis town in January this year.

Couple ambushed

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, police in the province are still hot on the trail of gunmen aboard a car who ambushed and killed a couple along the national highway in this town on Saturday.

Maj. Zukarnain Kunakon, Talayan municipal police chief, identified the fatalities as Ruel Pabrera Hilado, 40, and his wife, Mary Jane, 36, both of Barangay Zone 1, Koronadal City.

Kunakon said the couple was on a motorbike driven by the husband when the suspects, onboard a gray sedan, shot them along the road in Barangay Tambunan I, Talayan, at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

After the ambush, the suspects took an envelope from the victims’ bag and sped away.

Police found five empty shells for a .45-caliber pistol at the crime scene.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1203818