COTABATO CITY – Threatened by military airstrikes, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters abandoned a barangay in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat province and allowed about 1,000 Christian farmers to return.
The standoff started last week after the MILF band occupied the coastal barangay of Sangay, which area they claimed originally belonged to their ancestors.
The guerrillas demanded food and seized rice, and sent the Christian residents fleeing, according to town Mayor Rolando Garcia.
However, MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the action had not been approved by leaders of the separatist movement.
Key sources at the municipal peace and order council in Kalamansig have confirmed that the MILF rebels, led by a certain Commander Boyet, virtually “ran for their lives” after learning of the consensus by local officials and the military to bombard them.
Gen. Danilo Garcia, Army 604th Brigade commander, which has jurisdiction over Kalamansig and nearby towns, said instrumental in working out a peaceful solution to the crisis was Sultan Kudarat Gov. Datu Teng Mangudadatu.
Garcia said hundreds of civilians were forced to abandon their farms when the rebels showed up and, at gunpoint, forced them to leave.
“The commanders that led the rebels in taking over the barangay were telling the innocent civilians they were taking over the lands there because, as they said, these belonged to their ancestors,” he told reporters.
Farmers residing in Barangay Sangay all possess Torrens titles on their land, Garcia said.
Soldiers and artillery were deployed to Barangay Sangay to secure it from further incursions and no further hostilities were reported.
Boy killed in fighting
A boy was killed and a soldier wounded in a clash between troops and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) guerrillas in Zamboanga del Norte.
Police said nine-year-old Junior Addil was killed by a stray bullet, while Private First Class Dennis Ebas was wounded.
Two wounded MNLF fighters were captured during the encounter at Barangay Poblacion, according to Superintendent Jose Bayani Gucela, Zamboanga Peninsula police spokesman.
They were identified as Radzmir Mendoza and Ammid Tungayao, who were turned over to police custody.
Tungayao, who was in critical condition, was brought to the hospital. Troops from the Army’s 44th Infantry Battalion and Sibuco municipal policemen were on patrol when they encountered about 100 MNLF guerrillas in Barangay Lakiki last Friday.
The guerrillas under Commander Ustadz Kadjo Tungayao attacked the soldiers, wounding Ebas and killing Addil.
After 15 minutes of fighting, the MNLF guerrillas retreated, Gucela said. — John Unson, Roel Pareño, AP