Soldiers had clamped down five gunmen tagged in at least 10 deadly gun attacks in Sharrif Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur in recent weeks.
Major Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said on Friday, June 13, that the five suspects were together in a silver minivan when they were intercepted by personnel of the 90th Infantry Battalion in the town proper of Shariff Aguak on Thursday, June 12.
Patrolling combatants of the 90th IB flagged them down when they noticed their vehicle suspiciously roaming around the center of Shariff Aguak, looking around through its windows.
Six members of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team in Shariff Aguak and four villagers had been killed in one attack after another in the past seven weeks by men armed with assault rifles, riding silver and white minivans.
The soldiers who blocked the route of the five men found a 5.56 military-type M4 combat rifle, ammunition and drug sniffing paraphernalia in their vehicle.
Local officials said the five men belong to a group that perpetrated the recent gun attacks in Shariff Aguak that left at least 10 individuals dead, six of them on-duty volunteer community watchmen.
Gumiran said he has directed the commanding officer of the 90th ID, Lt. Col. Loqui Marco, to turn over the five men to officials of the Shariff Aguak Municipal Police Station for them to be properly prosecuted in court. (JFU, June 13, 2025, Cotabato City)