BARMM town councilor active in peacebuilding efforts shot dead

COTABATO CITY — A municipal councilor in a hostile municipality of the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area was killed in shooting incident in Barangay Salunayan, Midsayap town, Cotabato on Thursday, July 16.

Local executives and officials from the Midsayap Municipal Police Station told reporters on Friday, July 17, that Nasser Alipolo Dalandang, a member of the Sangguniang Bayan in Kadayangan, died from gunshot wounds sustained in the attack.

Kadayangan, which is near Midsayap, is one of the eight newly established towns in the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area (Bangsamoro SGA) under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. However, the area remains within the territory of Cotabato province in Administrative Region 12.

Dalandang was known for his active involvement in peacebuilding and community service initiatives of various BARMM agencies in Kadayangan.

Authorities said Dalandang, a resident of Barangay Tugal in Kadayangan, was inside his vehicle, parked along a highway in Barangay Salunayan, when two armed men approached and shot him. The suspects fled before responding barangay officials and volunteer community watchmen arrived at the scene.

Dalandang was declared dead on arrival by doctors at a hospital where police and Army emergency responders brought him for treatment.

Dalandang’s relatives told reporters that they believe his attackers were also residents of Kadayangan. They said they believe the attack was connected to his role as an elected official in the municipality.

More than 10 residents of Kadayangan, including barangay officials and traditional Moro datus, have been killed in separate attacks in the municipality and in nearby barangays in Cotabato’s Aleosan and Midsayap towns over the past 12 months. The cases remain unsolved.

Dalandang was killed on the first day of the the Commission on Elections' implementation of a total ban on unauthorized firearm possession in the autonomous region, part of effort to ensure a peaceful BARMM parliamentary polls on September 14 this year.