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COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The killings haven’t stopped. Not in the streets. Not in the remote villages. Not even with an intensified gun ban across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Since the start of the year, at least 85 shooting incidents have been recorded by the regional office of the Philippine National Police, and the bloodshed shows no sign of slowing. January alone saw 53 attacks. By mid-February, the tally had already climbed to 32.
The latest burst of violence came Monday morning, February 17, at 9:40 am, when gunmen ambushed a mini-van in Mamasapano, Maguindanao del Sur. Among the casualties was a woman, her name yet to be released.
QUESTION. A policeman asks a motorist a question as he joins other law enforcers in implementing the election gun ban in Cotabato City. Ferdinandh Cabrera/Rappler
But Lieutenant Colonel Henry Binas, spokesperson for the Maguindanao del Sur police, identified one of the victims as Hadji Fahad Nano, a resident of Barangay Barurao in Rajah Buayan.
Police said at least four people were in the vehicle, all rushed to the hospital. Their conditions remain unknown.
The violence is relentless. The election gun ban is in place, but the bullets keep flying. Less than 24 hours earlier, on Sunday afternoon, February 16, a group of gunmen armed with M-16 rifles ambushed and killed Cotabato City-based motorcycle enthusiast Boyet Lu.
Lu had been riding the trails of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte – a passion turned fatal.
Days earlier, on Thursday morning, February 13, another brazen attack targeted local Liga ng mga Barangay chairman and Datu Abdullah Sangki town councilor Edris Sangki. Gunmen opened fire, killing Sangki and injuring his barangay secretary and another barangay councilman. He had been the village chief of Kaya-kaya.
Areas of concern
Across BARMM’s territories, violence and instability have drawn stark battle lines. Of 143 “areas of concern” identified by authorities, 37 are listed under the red category, a designation for zones with grave security concerns.
Nowhere is the threat more concentrated than in Lanao del Sur, where 20 areas have been flagged. Maguindanao del Sur follows closely with 15.
Even the former BARMM territory, Sulu, although quieter, still has two red-tagged areas. The province was part of BARMM until a Supreme Court (SC) ruling excluded it from the Muslim-majority region by reason of its 2019 vote against the ratification of the law which created the Bangsamoro territory.
Another 30 areas fall under the orange category, indicating immediate security risks. Cotabato City tops the list with 10. Lanao del Sur has seven. Maguindanao del Sur and the BARMM’s Special Geographic Area each have four, Maguindanao del Norte has three, and Basilan, two.
Then there are the 76 areas in the yellow category, where security remains a concern but not yet at crisis levels.
Cotabato City again leads with 27, while Sulu has 14, Maguindanao del Norte has nine, Lanao del Sur has eight, Basilan has seven, Maguindanao del Sur has five, and both Tawi-Tawi and the SGA have three each.
Only 20 BARMM areas made it into the green category, or places considered free of security threats, at least for now.
‘Politically motivated’
Even as authorities attempt to impose strict security regulations, the killings have continued. In response to the recent violence, the PNP in BARMM formed a Special Investigation Task Group to focus on the wave of shootings in the towns of Buluan and Datu Abdullah Sangki in Maguindanao del Sur.
Police-BARMM director Brigadier General Romeo Macapaz acknowledged the growing concerns, hinting at political motives behind the attacks.
Macapaz said the latest killing in Datu Sangki town was suspected to be politically motivated.
Maguindanao Governor Mariam Sangki Mangudadatu said some of the attacks targeted people associated with her group.
“These are a direct threat to the ongoing peace efforts in the province, and a threat to expressing support for their leaders, a proof of the lack of respect for life, democracy, and human rights,” she said.
One of the victims, slain councilor Edris Sangki, was the governor’s cousin.
In an operation after Sangki’s assassination, the military recovered five high-powered firearms from an abandoned vehicle near a detachment. But those behind the ambush have remained unidentified and scot-free.
In Buluan, Maguindanao del Sur, police are investigating a series of attacks, including one on February 11 that nearly claimed the life of a 13-year-old boy. The boy was driving his father’s car illegally when armed men chased him down. He survived.
Macapaz said investigators were also looking into the possibility that the attack was politically motivated even as he noted that the boy was in the vehicle alone.
The same day, Buluan vice mayoral candidate Anwar Dimansinsil claimed his convoy was ambushed near the Maguindanao del Sur provincial capitol.
He alleged that three armed men in a gray car opened fire. One of his team members, the driver of a black SUV, was hit but was saved by a bulletproof vest.
But former Maguindanao governor and congressman Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu said he doubted Dimansinsil’s account, saying he suspected that the ambush was stage-managed.
He also said he suspected that it was related to the shooting of the car driven by the 13-year-old boy who was apparently mistaken for someone else.
Dimansinsil’s camp is a political rival of the former governor’s siblings in the upcoming elections in Buluan. – Rappler.com
