Kin of couple slain in Maguindanao del Norte file charges vs attackers

COTABATO CITY — Relatives of a municipal election officer in Maguindanao del Norte, who was killed along with her husband in an ambush last month, have filed criminal charges against two individuals accused of carrying out the attack.

 They told reporters on Tuesday, April 15, that they took this step to expedite the resolution of the incident, which police in the Bangsamoro region are still working to resolve.

Elders of the slain lawyer Bai Maceda Lidasan Abo and her husband, Datu Jojo Olea Abo, confirmed to reporters in Cotabato City that, with the assistance of their lawyers, they have filed criminal charges against the suspects involved in the couple's fatal ambush on March 26. The incident occurred along the Cotabato-Isulan Highway in Barangay Makir, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte.

The Commission on Elections placed Datu Odin Sinsuat under its control following the atrocity to allow poll officials, along with the police and military, to implement more extensive security measures ahead of the May 2025 elections.

Abo had served as election officer in politically-hostile towns in the Bangsamoro region prior to her assignment to Datu Odin Sinsuat.

Her elders, including senior officials from various government agencies in the Bangsamoro region and Region 12, were quoted in radio reports on Tuesday expressing their desire for "swift justice" for their two relatives, who were brutally killed in an ambush despite the Comelec's nationwide election-related gun ban that took effect on January 12.