COTABATO CITY — Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. met with Basilan Governor Mujiv S. Hataman and senior security officials in Basilan on Tuesday morning to discuss the circumstances and ramifications of Monday's ambush in the town of Tipo-Tipo, which left 13 military servicemen wounded.

Radio reports early on Tuesday said Mr. Hataman, who chairs the multi-sector Basilan Peace and Order Council — the province's lead coordinating body for peace and security, bringing together local officials, security forces, and community sectors — is cooperating with Muslim religious leaders and traditional leaders of the Yakan community, an indigenous group native to Basilan, to establish measures aimed at preventing a repeat of the incident. The reports did not detail what those measures would involve.

Meeting Held at Infantry Brigade Headquarters

Mr. Teodoro traveled to the venue — the headquarters of the 1101st Infantry Brigade in Isabela City in Basilan — accompanied by officials of the military's Western Mindanao Command, the Armed Forces unified command with jurisdiction over Basilan and nearby island provinces, led by its commander, Major Gen. Jose Vladimir R. Cagara, and by the chief of staff of the Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Antonio G. Nafarrete, the military's highest-ranking officer.

Mr. Teodoro, Mr. Hataman, Mr. Cagara, the commander of the 1101st Infantry Brigade, Brig. Gen. Frederick M. Sales, and representatives from the Basilan Provincial Police Office examined ways to intensify multi-sector and inter-agency efforts to keep the peace in the island province.

Casualty Count Revised Upward

Police and Army officials confirmed on Tuesday that 12 soldiers from the Army's 45th Infantry Battalion — not just 11, as initially reported — and a member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit, the Armed Forces' civilian auxiliary force, were wounded in Monday's ambush, bringing the total to 13. The ambush took place in the Bauno Dagao area of Barangay Badja in Tipo-Tipo, one of the province's 11 towns.

Officials of provincial units under the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and Brig. Gen. Sales separately said there are indications the ambush was carried out by a criminal gang, not violent religious extremists.

Retaliation Suspected

Police and Army officials said confidential informants relayed to them, and to Mr. Hataman, that the gunmen behind the attack were led by the long wanted Saddam D. Siddick, in what appeared to be retaliation for the death of his spouse, Nermalyn Musa-Siddick. She was also wanted for heinous crimes and was killed in a brief clash last week with policemen and soldiers who had moved to serve both spouses with warrants of arrest for high-profile criminal cases pending in different courts in Basilan.

Mr. Siddick is reportedly known in Basilan for involvement in large-scale peddling of shabu (methamphetamine) in the province, harboring wanted persons in exchange for money, and extortion activities that victimized local traders and owners of public transportation plying routes in areas where he moves around. The reports did not indicate whether an operation to arrest Mr. Siddick had been launched.

— John Felix M. Unson