More cops, soldiers fielded to pacify rival MILF groups

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines – Police and the military yesterday deployed 200 more uniformed personnel in Talitay town here to beef up security and help pacify two rival guerrilla factions involved in hostilities since Thursday.

Local officials said the two rival groups of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have figured in three encounters that left three guerrillas dead and three others wounded.

The fighting forced hundreds more of ethnic Maguindanaon families to flee their homes. More than a thousand families were dislocated in the first encounter just before noon Thursday.

The skirmishes between the two MILF groups started last Thursday morning with the killing of three security escorts of Talitay Mayor Montasir Sabal in an ambush.

The vice mayor of Talitay, Allan Sabal, said the victims were onboard the mayor’s Toyota pick-up truck which the rebels, led by Buisan Haron of the MILF’s 105th Base Command, fired at with assault rifles, killing the three security escorts on the spot.

Vice Mayor Sabal said the ambushers must have thought that the mayor, who is presently in a pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, was on the vehicle.

The ambushers also fired at the relatives of the mayor’s slain security men when they tried to retrieve the bodies, provoking another firefight.

The victims’ relatives, mostly active members of the MILF’s 106th Base Command, joined the foray and engaged Haron’s group in a three-hour firefight.

On Thursday night, Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu directed Senior Superintendent Rudelio Jocson, provincial police director, to initially deploy three platoons of policemen as buffer between the two feuding groups while the government-MILF ceasefire committee was trying to reposition them away from populated areas in Talitay.

The provincial peace and order council has asked the joint ceasefire committee, police and the military to pacify the two factions to prevent the conflict from affecting the Oct. 28 barangay elections in the area.

Provincial board member Bobby Katambak told The STAR yesterday that Mangudadatu has also asked the government-MILF ceasefire committee to help the provincial office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) formulate measures to ensure peaceful barangay polls in Talitay.

“The effort of the governor is parallel with the conflict resolution protocols bilaterally agreed upon by the government and MILF peace panels,” Katambak said.

He said Mangudadatu has also sought the help of local Muslim clerics in resolving the trouble amicably.

The hostilities have caused the closure of the Comelec office in Talitay since Thursday, preventing aspirants for barangay positions to file their certificates of candidacy.

“Gov. Mangudadatu was saddened by this development. His office and the provincial police are now initiating means of defusing the tension in the area, in coordination with the government-MILF ceasefire committee through the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade,” Katambak said.

Col. Noli Orense, commander of the Army’s 603rd IB, which has jurisdiction over Talitay and surrounding towns, said his emissaries have asked the relatives of the ambush victims to refrain from retaliating.

“We want them to leave everything to the police and just let the police file criminal charges against the culprits,” Orense said.

Orense said soldiers from the 68th Infantry Battalion are now deployed in strategic spots in Talitay to prevent the feuding MILF forces from getting close to each other.