Manila, March 31 -- The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday launched a manhunt for the gunmen behind the killing of a police corporal and his companion in Lanao del Sur.

The PNP said directives have been issued to ground commanders, particularly in the Police Regional Office in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), to identify and arrest the perpetrators.

"We strongly condemn this senseless and cowardly ambush. We will not let this pass, and the Philippine National Police will respond with full force of the law," PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a statement.

Nartatez added that the PNP is coordinating with the military to strengthen security measures across BARMM to prevent further violen...