Incident Summary:
12/28/2008: On Sunday afternoon at 1540 in Salama, Banisilan Town, Philippines, a North Cotabato former board member Sherlyn Macasarte and her sister Sheryl Atenista were on board a family-owned Toyota Hilux from Banisilan when about 50 armed men moving from nearby Alamada Town fired at them late in the afternoon. Both were wounded. The victims were on their way to Libungan, when unidentified armed men fired on them upon reaching Sitio Boundary, barangay (village) Salama in Banisilan town. The driver, Kim Atieza, escaped unharmed and was able to drive the victims to Midsayap Diagnostic Center. The victims were later transferred to Notre Dame Hospital in Cotabato City due to serious wounds.No group claimed responsibility; however, Vice Governor Emmanuel Pinol blamed the MILF for the ambush.
Overview
GTD ID:
200812280023
When:
2008-12-28
Country:
Philippines
Region:
Southeast Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
North Cotabato
City:
Banisilan
Location Details:
The incident occurred in the village of Salama, Banisilan Town.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Sherlyn Macasarte |
Specific Description |
The vehicle of North Cotabato former board member Sherlyn Macasarte |
Nationality of Target |
Philippines |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Property Damage |
Unknown |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
Weapon Details |
Unknown firearms were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | Yes |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The sources provide a discrepancy of the identity of the second victim. One available source identified Sheryl Atenista as the cousin of North Cotabato former board member Sherlyn Macasarte; while two other sources identified Sheryl Atenista as the sister of North Cotabato former board member Sherlyn Macasarte. The majority identification has been used in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
50 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 2 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
2 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Philippine Daily Inquirer, "Father, Two Sons Slain in Strafing in Maguindanao," Philippine Daily Inquirer, January 22, 2009. |
Sun Star Network Online, "Ex-Board Member, Sis Hurt in Ambush," http://67.225.139.201/davao/ex-board-member-sis-hurt-ambush (December 29, 2008). |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties