Maguindanaon soldier killed by amok in Tagum
Mindanao Armed Conflict • 09:00 AM Thu Nov 4, 2021
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By:
John M. Unson
COTABATO CITY --- One of the two soldiers killed by a companion who went berserk in their headquarters in Tagum City was a Maguindanaon whose family resides here.
Technical Sgt. Sandatu Tuma of the Army’s 10th Civil Military Operations Battalion died in a hospital from gunshot wounds sustained in the attack.
He and the other fatality, Major Franklin Embat, were shot with an assault rifle by a companion, Staff Sgt. Arvin Bureros.
Bureros was reportedly restive and seemed so agitated prior to the incident.
Another officer, Major Mineheart Maliaoao, was injured in the attack, now recuperating in a hospital.
Embat, who sustained gunshot wounds in different parts of his body, perished ahead of Tuma.
Bureros reportedly escaped after the attack and has since been at large.
He was declared dead on arrival in a hospital where he was rushed by personnel of the 10th CMO Battalion.
The victims all belong to the 10th CMO Battalion under the 10th Infantry Division of the Eastern Mindanao Command.
The 10th CMO Battalion headquarters is located in Barangay San Agustin in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.
Captain Mark Anthony Tito, spokesperson of 10th ID, was quoted in reports by radio stations here Wednesday as saying that Bureros hails from Kapalong, Davao del Norte.
He said Bureros casually approached the victims who were together in a kiosk at one spot in their battalion command post and, without warning, shot them with his service R4 assault rifle.
Tito said the 10th ID is cooperating with the on-going investigation on the incident by the Tagum City police under Lt. Col. Ruth Dizon.
Companions of the slain Tuma and Embat had told probers they heard Bureros yell “tapusin na natin ito” before gunshots rang through their battalion command post compound in Barangay Agustin.
Relatives of Tuma in Cotabato City and in Maguindanao have called on the 10th ID and the Tagum City police to help them secure justice for their slain kin, a father to a grade school child by a Maguindanaon spouse. (John Felix Unson)