2 gunmen in doctor’s ambush in Maguindanao surrender

COTABATO CITY—Two of three suspects in the Feb. 3 ambush of a doctor in Maguindanao del Sur have surrendered to authorities, Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, police director of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said on Thursday.

“The suspects who surrendered to police with the help of a town mayor were minors,” Nobleza said in a radio interview about the gunmen who ambushed Dr. Sharmaine Ceballos Baroquillo at Barangay Digal in Buluan, Maguindanao del Sur.

The suspected gunmen, he said, are residents of Pandag town and are age 16 and 17, respectively. The third suspect, who remains at large, is 18 years old, he added.

“They were all high school students and surrendered to Buluan municipal police with their parents and facilitated by Mayor Mohajeran Balayman of Pandag,” he said.

Pandag is a town next to Buluan.

Nobleza said police would file charges of attempted robbery and frustrated murder against the suspects.

“Clearly, the motive is robbery,” he said.

According to Nobleza, Baroquillo, who was driving a Suzuki Swift car, was heading to the Sultan Kudarat provincial hospital in Isulan town where she works as a government physician.

Driving alone, the 28-year-old doctor passed by the towns of Tulunan in North Cotabato province, Datu Paglas, Pandag and Buluan in Maguindanao del Sur.

“She was driving from Datu Paglas and she noticed three men on a motorbike tailing her,” Nobleza said.

He said Baroquillo was vulnerable because her car was not tinted. The suspects fired warning shots, trying to stop her in Barangay Digal, but she continued driving.

She was shot and wounded but continued driving toward the Buluan District Hospital. Along the way, she hit a tricycle with four passengers and her car ended up hitting a house near the highway.Sultan Kudarat Gov. Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu had offered P1 million reward money for anyone who could provide information leading to the arrest of the suspects.