3 die in shootout in Sto. Nino, SoCot

KORONADAL CITY - Three persons, including a most wanted man,were killed in a shootout with lawmen in a remote village of Sto Nino, South Cotabato Thursday, police said today.Senior Superintendent Jose Arnaldo Briones Jr, South Cotabato provincial police director, identified the fatalities asOmar Ambalgan, 29 years old and a resident of Mabuhay, a sub-village of Ambalgan in Sto. Nino, his live-in partner Rhea Amarito andNoli Roce. They all sustained multiple gunshot wounds and declared dead on arrival at a hospital in Sto Nino.Briones said policemen were to serve warrants of arrest for Ambalgan but he traded shots with arresting officers at 3 a.m. In the process, he opened fire on lawmen, forcing our police to return fire, Briones told DXOM-FM Koronadal. Ambalgan according to Briones was also allegedly involved in illegal drug trade and the series of kidnapping incidents in various places in Region 12. Noli Roce, who was staying in a bunkhouse with Ambalgan, was also killed in the shootout, after allegedly throwing a grenade that did not explode to the arresting team. The unexploded grenade was later detonated by policeExplosive Ordnance Division (EOD) Team. Also killed was a certain Rhea Amarito, 19 years old of Naci, Surallah, South Cotabato and Ambalgan’s live in partner. She was caught in the cross fire. South Cotabato Provincial Police Office is still conducting a thorugh investigation on the killing of Amarito and Roci. I have already directed our Provincial Internal Affairs Service Unit to conduct an investigation on the incident,” Briones said. Meanwhile, Police Senior Inspector Verlyn Pampolina, Sto. Nino, Chief of Police, said the police operation was spearheaded by the Special Project for Mindanao Islamiya (SPMI) which is under the office of the PNP director general.