DAVAO CITY (August 7)— A stray bullet injured a 6-year-old child in Barangay Tugal, Sultan sa Sabarongis, a remote barangay in Maguindanao del Sur on Wednesday morning, August 5.
The incident occurred as the police and military continued to enforce a “gun ban” in the entire Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) due to the upcoming parliamentary elections next month.
Major Guiseppe Tamayo, spokesperson of the Maguindanao del Sur Police Provincial Office, said the child was playing when the gunfire erupted around 9 a.m.
The child sustained gunshot wounds to his right neck and right cheek.
The Sultan Sabarongis Municipal Police Station blotter said the bullet that hit the child was believed to have come from warning shots fired by armed groups that entered the barangay that morning.
Responding police officers quickly brought the child and his parents to the municipal hospital, then to the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Hospital.
The child is now in stable condition, Tamayo said.
The gunfire also caused panic among residents of Barangay Tugal, many of whom were carrying children as they fled their homes, but they returned after authorities arrived and assured them of peace.
Tamayo said the gunfire stopped when police and military personnel arrived in the village.
Sultan sa Barongis, a fourth-class municipality with a population of 39,182 based on the 2024 census, has long been among the areas in Maguindanao del Sur known to be home to lawless armed groups, including the Dawlah Islamiya (DI) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).-Paul T Palacio
