Police identified the victims as Ali Mintang, 35; Abtiga Dimaloloy, 36, and his five-year-old child.
The victims are all residents of Barangay Mudseng, Midsayap, North Cotabato.
According to reports gathered from the Cotabato Police Provincial Office, the victims were on their way to rice fields nearby around 8:30 a.m. Thursday when armed men showered them with bullets.
The three died on the spot.
According to Noraiza Dimaloloy, the lone survivor, she saw three gunmen armed with M16 armalite rifles and with their faces covered at the riverbanks.
Dimaloloy was spared because she jumped into the water when the shooting started and swam towards safety.
The military believes the Lawless Moro Islamic Liberation Front Group (LMG) was behind the ambush.
They believe that the group is avenging the death of Kumander Jade Pakiladato, the trusted man of Kumander Ameril Umbra Kato in one of the encounters with government troopers.
Residents in the area attested that Kumander Jade was killed by the Army's 40th Infantry Battalion.
Midsayap Chief of Police Reynante Cabico is conducting investigations on the ambush. (Edgardo Fuerzas)
