Islamic authorities urged to allow delayed burial of crime victims

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COTABATO CITY — An official of the interim parliament of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has called on Islamic authorities to allow a delay in the burial of victims in gun attacks for purposes of establishing a mechanism of gathering accurate evidence in causes of death and ensuring justice via air-tight criminal suits.

Lawyer Omar Yasser Sema, one of the deputy speakers of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament allied with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), particularly asked the BARMM’s Darul-Ifta (House of Islamic Opinions) to exempt Muslim fatalities from the traditional practice of burying cadavers within 24 hours.

“(The) BARMM Darul-Ifta should allow an exception on immediate burial for those killed by gun violence, said Sema, explaining that shell casings as a cause of death is not conclusive.

Sema’s call came amid apparent confusion in current investigations on the killing of seven people last Nov. 24 over a long-drawn land dispute at the border of Barangay Malinan in Kidapawan City and Estado in Matalam, North Cotabato.

Two of the fatalities were MNLF members, while the five others belonged to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), according to initial reports.

There were conflicting initial reports about the killing, notably in the mode and scene of the violent incident.

Earlier, government reports said the fatalities were slain in a "firefight" with resisting settlers at Barangay Malinan in Kidapawan City.

MNLF and MILF leaders, citing a narrative from an unnamed survivor, said the fatalities were asleep at a makeshift hut in Barangay Estado of adjacent Matalam town, North Cotabato, when fired upon with rifle-launched grenades by bonnet-wearing men. They claimed that the incident was a "massacre."

Responding relatives buried the fatalities in a common grave at Barangay Estado within 24 hours as mandated under Islamic practice.

At stake in the bloody dispute is a 58-hectare farmland straddling Barangay Malinan and Estado.

The fatalities were said to be descendants of the Iranun Langalen clan. Surviving relatives claimed to be the "rightful owner" of the disputed farm as part of their ancestral land since 1955.

Local MNLF kumander Macky Edris Langalen, said to be the surviving leader of the claimants, explained in a radio interview that his family abandoned the land during the Martial Law era in 1970s when "military-backed Visayan settlers" drove them away.

But current settlers of the farm land, mostly belonging to the Ilonggo tribe, argued that they had bought parts of the land and got corresponding patent titles in the aftermath of the Martial Law era.

On Nov. 24, two days after the killing of the seven land claimants, Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza convened a multisector meeting at her office in Kidapawan City to draw up measures that could deescalate the conflict between the settlers and the land claimants.

The meeting was attended by Provincial Police Director Col. Jerson Birrey and Brig. Gen. Ricky Bunayog of the 602nd Brigade, together with teams of Ahjag from the government and the MILF, and BARMM Parliament members Mohammad Kelie Antao and Romeo Sema, a concurrent MNLF key leader.

A lawyer for the fatalities said they would file separate cases in court, one for criminal charges against suspects in the killing, and another for a civil case to determine the real owner of the disputed land.

Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abduraof Macacua and Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity Carlito Galvez Jr. had issued separate statements to condemn the killing and call for a deeper investigation on the dispute.

The Bangsamoro Human Rights Commission has reportedly started looking into the killing, following rumors that some "partisan" military elements could be involved in the killing of the seven land claimants as implied in the alleged use of grenade-launchers in the fateful attack.

“Ordinary farmer-settlers do not have heavy fire-powers such as M-79 or grenade launchers,” an informant claimed.

The theory has ostensibly given credence to the advocacy of Parliament Member Sema on the need for autopsy of fatalities in gun attacks.

Sema’s call implied the need for an exhumation of the seven cadavers for forensic experts to determine what type of weapons was used in the killing.

Meanwhile, the bloody dispute rekindled public calls for the immediate passage in the Bangsamoro interim Parliament of a bill for the creation of a transitional justice and reconciliation commission (TJRC).

Under the TJRC, long-drawn land disputes shall be resolved with the provision of compensation of settlers and the restoration of rightful owners to their original properties. ALI G. MACABALANG