Barangay hall in Cotabato City shot with combat rifles

OTABATO CITY, Philippines — Gunmen shot with assault rifles the newly-renovated barangay hall of Tamontaka 4 in this city before dawn Tuesday, damaging the building and causing panic among villagers in houses nearby.

Thong Gayak, the ethnic Maguindanaon chairman of Barangay Tamontaka 4, told reporters on Wednesday that Moro community leaders and local residents have assured to help probers from Cotabato City Police Station 3 of the Cotabato City Police Office investigate the incident.

Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao, chairperson of the city’s multi-sector peace and order council, has condemned the incident and asked the city's police director, Col. Jibin Bongcayao, to file corresponding criminal cases against the perpetrators once identified. 

Just last week, two Moro villagers gathering firewood at a forested area in the Timako Hill near a beachfront area west of Cotabato City survived an attack by men armed with rifles, promptly driven away from the area by personnel of the 6th Marine Battalion and policemen who responded to the incident.