Not another Marawi
DATU PIANG ASSAULT
Their force is just small and they cannot do that. The arms they had surrendered to us are high-powered. Their arms are really few
The attack of some 50 armed men in Datu Piang, Maguindanao that momentarily disrupted regular activities in the town is not a prelude to a bigger siege in the country, a military official said Sunday.
In a radio interview, Lt. Col. Anhouvic Atilano, spokesperson of the Philippine
Army’s 6th Infantry Division and Joint Task Force-Central, assured the public that members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) who stormed the town Thursday night are not capable of launching a Marawi-like siege due to their small number and limited arms.
Atilano said some 200 members of the group have previously surrendered to the state forces.
“From January to date, almost 200 members of the BIFF and Dawlah Islamiyah surrendered to us. That group is just a packet of an armed group,” he told DZBB.
“Their force is just small and they cannot do that. The arms they had surrendered to us are high-powered. Their arms are really few,” he added.
Atilano, meanwhile, belied rumors that members of the New People’s Army and the Maute group are involved in the attack, saying those groups are not operating in the area.
“There is no truth in that... They do not establish alliances to launch a single offensive,” he said.
Preparing complaints
The Philippine National Police (PNP) is preparing complaints against BIFF leaders and members who are believed to be behind the ruckus in the town. Among the complaints eyed against them are attempted murder, arson, indiscriminate firing, damage to property and grave threat and intimidation.
The group is led by Karialan Saga Amindang alias “Motorola,” known to be the brother of Abu Karialan who leads the ISIS- inspired faction of the BIFF in Central Mindanao. The PNP also identified other leaders as Salahudin Hasan, also known as Salah and Muhiden Animbang Indong, also known as commander Karialan.
The BIFF is a separatist group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, itself a splinter group of the Moro National Liberation Front.
They attacked a police station and military detachment in Datu Piang in their two simultaneous raids. After a 35-minute gunfight with the state forces, they burned a police patrol car as they fled and fired at a nearby church and school, although no casualties were reported.
The ongoing investigation into the attack indicates three possible motives, including: Political rivalry among local executives of Datu Piang, particularly between the mayor and vice mayor; vengeance for the death of BIFF member Abu Suffian who was killed in a police operation in Cotabato City; and personal grudge of some members against the chief of police of the town over the arrest of two its members.
Such attacks insult the efforts of advocates and the people on the ground to pursue peace, she added.
Armed Forces of the Philippines ( AFP) chief Gen. Gilbert Gapay condemned the attack as an “act of terror,” but stressed it should not be compared to local and foreign terrorists’ siege of Marawi City in 2017 which left over 1,000 militants, soldiers and civilians dead.
Datu Piang, an old town in Maguindanao, is located near the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta, a haven of the outlawed BIFF members operating in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Assert the law
The Commission on Human Rights ( CHR), meanwhile urged the government to assert the full extent of the law in pursuing the perpetrators behind the armed attack in Datu Piang.
CHR spokesperson, Atty. Jacqueline Ann de Guia, made the call following the BIFF assault Thursday night.
“We urge the government to assert the full extent of the law in pursuing these perpetrators “De Guia said in a statement.
“We can never fully enjoy the fruits of human rights until unrest persists. We all deserve to live a dignified life,” she added.
De Guia, at the same time, said that the commission condemns the attack by the BIFF when the said group reportedly harassed police officers in Datu Piang and exchanged gunfire with the police and soldier stationed in the area.
While no casualties were reported, the BIFF militants burned a police patrol car in the course of the skirmish.
Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr., the AFP-Western Mindanao Command chief, said an undetermined number of BIFF militants passed by a police patrol car which was left unguarded, triggering them to burn it.
We can never fully enjoy the fruits of human rights until unrest persists. We all deserve to live a dignified life.
Troops immediately responded to clear the area. Accordingly, the BIFF left the area after they burned the PNP patrol car.
“CHR believes that inflicting violence, especially when the nation is being confronted with a pandemic, is senseless and does nothing but aggravate the hardships already felt by communities on the ground. Mindanao in particular has long suffered from unrests,” De Guia said.
“Such attacks insult the efforts of advocates and the people on the ground to pursue peace,” she added.