2 fish vendors dead in Maguindanao del Sur ambush

COTABATO CITY --- Suspected extortionists killed two ambulant fish vendors in an ambush in South Upi, Maguindanao del Sur at dusk Saturday.

South Upi PNP Chief Major Dareen Tolosa, interviewed by DXMS Radyo Bida, identified the fatalities as Danny Ramas, 57 and Jeperson Berman, 25, both residents of Barangay Romongaob, South Upi, Maguindanao del Sur.

Tolosa said Berman and Ramas were riding a motorcycle together on their way home from Barangay Sanduagan when they were attacked by gunmen positioned along the route.

(Photo shows police conduct checkpoint operation as crime prevention efforts- South MPS) 

Berman died on the spot while Ramas succumbed to bullet wounds while being treated in a hospital.

Relatives of the slain merchants said there is a possibility that armed men whose demand for “protection money” they have rejected could be responsible for the ambush.

No fewer than 10 motorists were shot dead in one attack after another in South Upi in the past 14 months. The mayor of the municipality, Reynalbert Insular, twice survived roadside bombings since early 2022.

Local officials told reporters the slain Berman and Ramas were longtime friends who sold fishes together to contacts in interior barangays in South Upi.