Incident Summary:
12/28/2008: On Sunday around morning at 0640, 30 suspected members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front ambushed and killed three village watchmen inTulunan, North Cotabato, Philippines. Police identified the slain village watchmen as Romy Parin, Noel Penuela and Gilbert Rafael, of Lipaga Village, Mlang, North Cotabato. The three were on their way to an interior sub-village to verify the presence of Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels extorting money from farmers there when the guerrillas opened fire, killing them on the spot. A civilian and a village guard were also injured in the attack. The ambushers took the assault rifles, including two M203 carbines, and a shoulder-fired M-79 grenade launcher from the village watchmen. Mlang's peace and order council, in a statement, identified the leader of the MILF rebels responsible for the ambush as one Commander Kid, whose group has been collecting "protection money" from farming communities in North Cotabato.
Overview
GTD ID:
200812280024
When:
2008-12-28
Country:
Philippines
Region:
Southeast Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
North Cotabato
City:
Tulunan
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Police |
Name of Entity |
Lopaga Village Watchmen |
Specific Description |
Three village watchmen |
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 for the date that the incident occurred. One available source indicated the incident occurred on 12/29/2008; while two other sources indicated that the incident occurred on 12/28/2008. The majority incident date has been used in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
30 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
3 Fatalities / 2 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
3 |
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 Star, "Police Tag MILF Rebels in Killing of Three Village Watchmen in N. Cotabato," Philippine Star, January 22, 2009. |
Philippines News Agency, "Three Dead, Two Injured in N Cotabato Ambush," Philippines News Agency, December 29, 2008. |
National Counterterrorism Center, "Two Paramilitary Members, One Civilian Killed, One Paramilitary Member, One Civilian Wounded in Armed Attack by Suspected MILF in Tulunan, Cotabato, Philippines," Worldwide Incidents Tracking System, January 15, 2010. |
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