MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, August 15 (PIA) -- Government officials want an independent body to probe the recent killings in the city, which purportedly was rooted on a continuing campaign against organized crime groups.
Governor Mujiv S. Hataman, Officer in-charge of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said he had directed Secretary Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman Jr. of the region’s Department of Interior and Local Government to convene the Security and Social Clusters of the ARMM Cabinet to constitute Task Force Kalilintad.
Hataman also called on the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Philippine National Police (PNP) for an independent probe, saying the ARMM’s Commission on Human Rights (CHR) should also be part of any effort to investigate on the killings.
“While your regional government supports law enforcement agencies' action aimed at curbing drug syndicate activities or other illegal acts, we do not condone any human rights violations. We call for an independent probe from the NBI, CHR ARMM and PNP on this skirmish,” Hataman said in a statement.
Hataman said he condemned the killings of the soldiers and of innocent civilians during the incident adding that he wanted to find out whether the August 8 shooting was preceded or followed by related incidents of human rights violation.
Residents say there was more to reported ambush of soldiers on August 8 in which three members of the 103rd Brigade were slain inside the vast Mindanao State University (MSU) Main Campus.
A woman said her six-year old granddaughter, Gaily Miraato, was hit by a stray bullet while playing with her cousins at the second floor of their apartment. This, she recalled, happened the same night as truckloads of soldiers made rounds of the city, while bursts of gunfire were heard from every corner like a “domino-effect” of the ambush.
Miraato was pronounced dead on arrival in a nearby hospital. Doctors found a slug that penetrated her spinal column. The old woman said she wanted justice based on deeper investigation of what really transpired.
Col. Daniel Lucero, chief of the 103rd Infantry Brigade said his soldiers were in hot pursuit of an organized crime group of 20 armed men, led by Otik Gamal, whom he tagged as relatives of City Mayor Fahad Salic.
The 103rd Infantry Brigade is part of Task Force Ranao (TFR) formed in November last year, by the national government to crack down on organized crime groups in the area.
“We are trying to be very, very objective in our efforts to be able to find out what really transpired,” said ARMM Cabinet Secretary Khalila Mae Mambuay-Campong, who led an initial fact-finding mission.
Campong’s report said three more civilian fatalities were identified as Nabillah Pacalna, 19, who died on the spot and her brother Zafrullah, 20, who died while being treated of stray bullet wounds from the MSU exchange of fires, and Engr. Manioba Rinabor Biston, 49, whose body was found with signs of torture.
She said two soldiers were also shot dead, though unreported, prior to the MSU ambush of a military truck. Killed in the campus ambush were PFC Rodel Alada, PFC Brucelee Puyod and PFC Rogen Polenzo. (BPI-ARMM/PIA-10)
Governor Mujiv S. Hataman, Officer in-charge of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said he had directed Secretary Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman Jr. of the region’s Department of Interior and Local Government to convene the Security and Social Clusters of the ARMM Cabinet to constitute Task Force Kalilintad.
Hataman also called on the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Philippine National Police (PNP) for an independent probe, saying the ARMM’s Commission on Human Rights (CHR) should also be part of any effort to investigate on the killings.
“While your regional government supports law enforcement agencies' action aimed at curbing drug syndicate activities or other illegal acts, we do not condone any human rights violations. We call for an independent probe from the NBI, CHR ARMM and PNP on this skirmish,” Hataman said in a statement.
Hataman said he condemned the killings of the soldiers and of innocent civilians during the incident adding that he wanted to find out whether the August 8 shooting was preceded or followed by related incidents of human rights violation.
Residents say there was more to reported ambush of soldiers on August 8 in which three members of the 103rd Brigade were slain inside the vast Mindanao State University (MSU) Main Campus.
A woman said her six-year old granddaughter, Gaily Miraato, was hit by a stray bullet while playing with her cousins at the second floor of their apartment. This, she recalled, happened the same night as truckloads of soldiers made rounds of the city, while bursts of gunfire were heard from every corner like a “domino-effect” of the ambush.
Miraato was pronounced dead on arrival in a nearby hospital. Doctors found a slug that penetrated her spinal column. The old woman said she wanted justice based on deeper investigation of what really transpired.
Col. Daniel Lucero, chief of the 103rd Infantry Brigade said his soldiers were in hot pursuit of an organized crime group of 20 armed men, led by Otik Gamal, whom he tagged as relatives of City Mayor Fahad Salic.
The 103rd Infantry Brigade is part of Task Force Ranao (TFR) formed in November last year, by the national government to crack down on organized crime groups in the area.
“We are trying to be very, very objective in our efforts to be able to find out what really transpired,” said ARMM Cabinet Secretary Khalila Mae Mambuay-Campong, who led an initial fact-finding mission.
Campong’s report said three more civilian fatalities were identified as Nabillah Pacalna, 19, who died on the spot and her brother Zafrullah, 20, who died while being treated of stray bullet wounds from the MSU exchange of fires, and Engr. Manioba Rinabor Biston, 49, whose body was found with signs of torture.
She said two soldiers were also shot dead, though unreported, prior to the MSU ambush of a military truck. Killed in the campus ambush were PFC Rodel Alada, PFC Brucelee Puyod and PFC Rogen Polenzo. (BPI-ARMM/PIA-10)
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