No clues yet on ambush of prosecutor

COTABATO CITY --- Probers are still trying to identify the gunmen who shot and wounded in an ambush Friday the deputy provincial prosecutor of Maguindanao.

Fiscal Tocod Ronda and his two companions, Abol and Nestor, both also surnamed Ronda, were wounded in the attack.

Brig. Gen. Marni Marcos, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Monday their intelligence units are helping the Cotabato City police identify the gunmen behind Ronda’s ambush.

The victims were together in a white Toyota Grandia van from a traditional Friday Islamic jumaah prayer rite when their attackers shot their vehicle with assault rifles while maneuvering through a narrow intersection in a subdivision west of Cotabato City.

Ronda’s superior, Maguindanao Provincial Prosecutor Rohaira Lao, has urged the police to expedite the probe on the incident for the culprits to be prosecuted for their offense.

Maguindanao is a component-province of the Bangsamoro region that has a high prevalence of clan wars, or "rido" in most local vernaculars, mostly triggered by affronts on family honor, politics and land disputes.

Ronda’s relatives told reporters Monday they are certain the attempt to kill him could be related to his being deputy provincial prosecutor of Maguindanao.

Major Gen. Diosdado Carreon of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division said plainclothes agents of the anti-crime Task Force Central operating under his control are also helping determine the exact identities of Ronda’s ambushers and their real motive for the attack.

The wounded Ronda and his two aides are now recuperating in a hospital.