By Edwin Fernandez
COTABATO CITY – Two were killed, including a candidate for the municipal council, while eight were disarmed and arrested following a police operation in Pandag, Maguindanao del Sur, on Saturday.
Lt. Col. Jopy Ventura, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, identified in his report Sunday the slain poll candidate Emran Mamalinta, 40, who was running for a Sangguniang Bayan seat in Pandag.
Arrested were Jhopit Sarabon Gampong, Mohamad Macapeges Andil, Samer Macapeges Andil, and Usop Gampong Mamidted, all members of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team; and Keji Mamalinta Esmail, Embran Laguialam Salandangan, Rahim Esmail Mamalinta, and Abdulrahman Tumba Mamalinta, all of Pandag town.
“We are assuring the voters that the election will go through in Pandag as scheduled,” Ventura said in a statement, adding that police and military forces are in place to protect Monday’s elections.
He said the two armed groups clashed in four villages of Pandag at dawn Saturday.
Responding officers under the 4th Special Action Battalion, backed by military forces, went to the area to pacify them but were attacked, triggering a four-hour firefight.
Subsequent clearing operation led to the recovery of three M16 rifles, two Garand rifles, an M203 rifle, three 40mm grenades, assorted ammunition, and personal belongings.
Also on Saturday, two soldiers were hurt in a clash with Moro Islamic Liberation Front gun-toting members in Shariff Aguak town, also in Maguindanao del Sur.
Brig. Gen. Patricio Ruben Amata, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division assistant commander, said the soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Battalion were injured during the clash at about 5 a.m.
“Elements of the 33rd Infantry Battalion were patrolling the village of Kuloy when they were fired upon by the armed men, triggering a gun battle that lasted for several hours,” Amata said.
He said the matter has been resolved, and both sides have de-escalated. (PNA)
