Soldier, companion hurt in Maguindanao del Sur ambush

COTABATO CITY - An off-duty motorist soldier was wounded in the neck in an ambush on Wednesday at a stretch of the Cotabato-Davao Highway in Pagalungan, Maguindanao del Sur that also left his civilian companion injured.

Col. Roel Sermese, director of the Maguindanao del Sur provincial police, said on Thursday that the victims, Private 1^st Class Roberto Dela Cruz Desierto, Jr., and Eugenio Lamoste Gurang were riding a motorcycle together, en route to somewhere, when they were attacked by pistol-wielding men at Barangay Galakit in Pagalungan.

Desierto, who belongs to the Army’s 92^nd Infantry Battalion, is assigned at Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur.

Desierto’s motorcycle swerved towards the side of the highway and crashed after he was hit with a bullet in the neck, Sermese said, citing a report from the Pagalungan Municipal Police Station.

Gurang, who fell from the motorcycle as it flipped, rolled over and landed on one side of the concrete highway, sustained abrasions in his arms and legs.

Their attackers hurriedly escaped when they sensed that the gunshots that reverberated through the scene caused a commotion among villagers in houses nearby.

Sermese said responding policemen and emergency responders from the Pagalungan local government unit immediately brought the duo to the hospital for treatment.