By Edwin Fernandez

CRIME SCENE. Police scene of the crime operatives investigate the ambush site along Jose Lim Street, Cotabato City, on Tuesday (Sept. 16, 2025). Police found over 50 empty shells from various calibers of firearms at the scene where a village chairperson was injured and her husband was killed in the attack. (Photo courtesy of PNP)

COTABATO CITY – To speed up the resolution of an ambush that left three people dead and two injured, Mayor Bruce Matabalao has offered a reward for information that would identify the assailants.

Police said they have already identified persons of interest behind the ambush of Barangay Poblacion 5 chairperson Pahima Pasawiran-Pusaka on Tuesday morning along Jose Lim Sr. Street. The attack left her husband, Michael Pusaka, dead.

Also killed in the ambush were tricycle driver Khoemeni Kusain, who was hit by stray bullets, and her husband.

Pasawiran-Pusaka and her two minor children were injured. The ambush was perpetrated by motorcycle-riding gunmen at 10 a.m.

In an interview, Matabalao did not specify the amount of the bounty but said, “We cannot allow this cowardly act to go unpunished. Let us unite in seeking justice.”

The ambush victims’ brother, Datu Bimbo Ayunan Pasawiran, village chief of Barangay Kalanganan Mother, believed the attack against his sister was politically motivated. He did not name names.

Police said they believe the attackers were after Michael.

“This brutal act is not only a crime against individuals—it is a direct threat to the peace and security of our city,” a police official said. (PNA)