Stop killings in Cotabato City, Palace urged

COTABATO CITY — City residents called on Malacañang yesterday to intervene on the spate of high-profile atrocities and vendetta killings here, the most recent of which was Thursday night’s gunbattle between Marines and unidentified gunmen which left four people dead and six others wounded.

The incident came exactly three days after members of two feuding Muslim clans in Maguindanao figured in a fierce firefight in a residential area here, resulting in the death of a policeman and serious injuries to five others, two of them children of the warring families.

The spate of violent incidents here, which started late last year, has earned for the city the moniker "crime capital of Central Mindanao."

Only three of the four fatalities in Thursday night’s hostilities were identified, namely, Pvt. Reynel Navida, Myrna Guillermo and Nellie Delbo.

Citing initial feedback from probers, Mayor Muslimin Sema said the firefight erupted when the gunmen, on board a tinted van, opened fire on two Marines who tried to stop them for routine inspection at a checkpoint on Quezon Avenue.

Navida died on the spot, while his companion, Cpl. Edgar Nilo, although wounded, managed to return fire.

Other Marines inside their barracks five meters away from the scene responded and traded shots with the gunmen who later fled toward nearby Sultan Kudarat town.

Five of six civilians wounded in the crossfire were identified as Joel Lachica, Analea Melchor, Larry Crisostomo, Armandi Samso and Lugoy Guibar.

Senior Inspector Bahnarin Kamaong, spokesman of the city police, said they are now gathering information from witnesses to identify the gunmen.

The incident heightened the tension gripping this city, triggered by the rash of vendetta killings and skirmishes involving powerful political factions from nearby Maguindanao towns.

Just two weeks ago, heavily armed men raided the house here of Salipongan Dagloc, a prominent political leader in Maguindanao’s Kabuntalan town, shot his maid dead and wounded his son Sebastian.

Sources from the Muslim and Christian communities suggested that the city must immediately be placed under full military control to curb lawlessness.

The city is the temporary seat of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the administrative capital of Region 12.