Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. visits the wounded troops from the military convoy ambush in Basilan at Camp Navarro General Hospital in Zamboanga City and confers the Wounded Personnel Medal on them on October 6, 2026. Michael Delizo, ABS-CBN News
BASILAN — The number of soldiers wounded in Monday’s military convoy ambush in Tipo-Tipo town has risen to 13, with eight remaining under medical treatment in hospitals.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., accompanied by Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, on Tuesday visited the wounded troops at Camp Navarro General Hospital in Zamboanga City and conferred the Wounded Personnel Medal on them.
Teodoro said the soldiers remain in high morale.
READ: 10 soldiers injured in Basilan ambush
“Nakita din natin ang kailangan na support ng mga sundalo, ng tropa dito sa Basilan logistically and in the future kung ano ang kailangan para ma-guarantee ‘yong stability ng peace and security sa area,” Teodoro told reporters in a chance interview after the visit.
According to authorities, a military convoy of the Army's 45th Infantry Battalion was traversing a road in Barangay Badja en route to Lamitan City and was heading to the headquarters of the 101st Infantry Brigade in Isabela City when at least seven gunmen armed with assault rifles opened fire.
The soldiers, including a member of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit, sustained gunshot wounds to different parts of their bodies.
Military and police said tracking indicators confirmed that the ambush was carried out as a retaliatory act allegedly orchestrated by an armed faction under Saddam Siddick following the death of his second wife, Nermalyn Salapuddin Musa.
Musa was killed in a military operation in Barangay Baimbing, Lamitan City, last week while authorities were serving arrest warrants on the couple in connection with high-profile criminal cases pending before different courts in Basilan.
Siddick is allegedly involved in large-scale illegal drug peddling in Basilan, coddling wanted persons in exchange for money, and extortion activities targeting local traders and public transport operators plying routes in areas where he operates.
SECURITY AND PEACE PROCESS
Teodoro and Nafarrete also held a security meeting at the 101st Infantry Brigade headquarters in Isabela City.
The Basilan ambush comes only weeks after the first BARMM parliamentary elections. Teodoro, however, clarified that the recent conflict has no connection to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or the ongoing peace process.
According to Teodoro, the MILF also condemned the incident and vowed not to coddle Siddick and other individuals involved in the attack.
“Sa Basilan, sama-sama silang kinondena, itong Saddam Siddick, kasama ni Gov. Wala itong kinalaman [sa peace process]. Pure law enforcement ito na nagiging terorismo, narco-terrorism itong tao na ito,” Teodoro said.
“Pati MILF, ang nag-identify din kung sino kasama nitong Saddam Siddick kasi nga ayaw din nilang may kinalaman sa tao na ito,” he added.
Efforts are underway to arrest Siddick and his alleged co-perpetrators through relevant peace-process mechanisms, according to Teodoro.