Marines augment BARMM security as polls near

PEACEKEEPING FORCE A Marine battalion arrives in Cotabato City on Saturday to beef up the forces ensuring the security of communities in the Bangsamoro region and the peaceful conduct of the midterm elections. —CRIZBELLE LORENZO

COTABATO CITY—A Marine battalion arrived in this city on Saturday to primarily perform election duties in the area of responsibility of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID), a military official said.

Lt. Col. Roden Orbon, 6ID spokesperson, told the Inquirer that around 200 Marine troopers will be deployed to the Maguindanao provinces, the towns comprising the Special Geographic Area (SGA) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), and in this city, which had experienced a recent spike in violence in the run-up to the midterm elections in May.

The troopers hail from Marine Battalion Landing Team 6 based in Zamboanga City and were flown here by a C-130 aircraft.

“They will be our additional forces for security-related operations and missions, mainly for election duties,” Orbon said.

The military, he added, was still assessing the need of specific areas for additional troops.

Normalcy restored

“We will conduct security assessment together with the Police Regional Office in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region before we determine the areas that needs security attention,” Orbon said.

In light of increased violence in the Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur provinces, Commission on Elections Chair George Garcia had asked the Philippine National Police to revisit its earlier security assessment in the BARMM so that the required additional measures can be put in place in time for the elections on May 12.

In a related development, the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion restored normalcy in Sitio Pandan of Barangay Malingao, Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao del Sur on Saturday, allowing hundreds of families to gradually return to their homes.

Orbon said that tensions between two armed groups triggered villagers to flee, as these groups showed up loaded with guns on Thursday night.

SAFE PLACE These residents of Sitio Pandan, Barangay Malingao of Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur, find it safer to sleep in the open, away from their village, after they fled their homes when two groups of armed men showed up in their area late in the night of March 6. —SHARIFF AGUAK MUNICIPALITY

Shariff Aguak Mayor Akmad Ampatuan and the local Army command had agreed on Friday to give a go-signal for some 250 families to return. But as of Saturday, 40 families still preferred to stay with relatives in nearby Tapikan village as they still feared for their safety.

The mayor expressed concern that his constituents were being displaced while performing their religious obligations for the holy fasting month of Ramadan. At the same time, the local government has yet to distribute assistance to the affected families.

Orbon said they were now investigating the circumstances of the incident that pitted, on the one hand, a group of followers of individuals identified as Rasul Taha, Baby Bungos and Wahab Manguka, and another by followers of Sam Simpal and Kagui Pancho.

The military together with the local police were now pursuing these two groups.

“There’s no armed encounter but we immediately deployed troops to prevent tension to escalate,” Orbon said.