Basilan exec to MILF: ‘Rein in your forces’
As mayor of Tipo-Tipo, I strongly condemn these acts of violence that endangered our people and disrupted the peace of our municipality
PAGADIAN CITY—Mayor Ingatun Istarul of Tipo-Tipo town in Basilan province on Wednesday asked the leadership of erstwhile rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to rein in its members to avoid security-related problems in their communities.
The call came following attempts by a band of armed men, among them young MILF members, to overrun the Tipo-Tipo municipal government center on Tuesday in a bid to pursue a local employee whom they believed was involved in the killing of an Islamic preacher on Oct. 21.
The armed men exchanged gunfire with civil security personnel of the municipal government while soldiers and policemen stood guard to prevent them from taking over facilities, especially the town hall.
At least four people were wounded in the skirmishes, and sent some 12,000 residents fleeing their homes and seeking temporary shelter with relatives in nearby Ungkaya Pukan and Al-Barka towns.
“As mayor of Tipo-Tipo, I strongly condemn these acts of violence that endangered our people and disrupted the peace of our municipality,” Istarul said in a statement on Wednesday.
The town, according to Istarul, was paralyzed for two days due to the tension generated by the assault launched by about 200 armed men.
“We call on the coordinating committee on the cessation of hostilities (CCCH) and the MILF leadership to review and strengthen control mechanisms over their members’ movements and armed activities within civilian-populated areas to prevent similar incidents in the future,” Istarul added.
The CCCH is a mechanism established by the government and the MILF to prevent unnecessary provocations among their respective forces as well as pacify units engaged in armed encounters as a way of helping create a good atmosphere in the negotiations for a peace agreement back then.
Clan feud
The negotiations for the armed men’s withdrawal on Tuesday overseen by Basilan Gov. Mujiv Hataman were premised on their demand for justice for the murder of Ustadz Nadzri Tarahin.
But as far as incidents in Tipo-Tipo are concerned, Istarul said the tension started on Sunday when two men on a motorcycle fired indiscriminately at a checkpoint in Barangay Tipo-Tipo Proper. When pursued by government militia men, the suspects fled to an MILF community.
Istarul said one of the suspects later died and talks of retaliation spread across the town following the burial on Sunday night.
Those who launched a “coordinated assault” on Tipo-Tipo Proper, according to Istarul, were identified to be relatives and sympathizers of the one who died on Sunday.
“While the conflict had a tone of retaliation, it was not a regular ‘rido’ (clan feud) which usually occurs among families and lasts for years. This incident was distinct—a deliberate, organized armed action supported by MILF elements who took justice into their own hands, thereby endangering the peace process and the safety of civilian communities,” Istarul pointed out.
On Wednesday, Hataman visited Tipo-Tipo as part of reassurance to its residents.
Also on Wednesday, bomb disposal experts swept through public areas in the town to dispose of unexploded ordnance.
Acting Philippine National Police chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said the police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines had set up checkpoints and deployed patrols to maintain order in Tipo-Tipo. —WITH A REPORT FROM JASON SIGALES
