Civilians displaced by BIFF attacks welcome New Year in evacuation sites

COTABATO CITY -- Some 4,000 evacuees from Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat villages have welcomed
the New Year, not in their homes, but inside gymnasiums turned into evacuation
centers, after fleeing homes due to attacks by rogue Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom
Fighters (BIFF).

A resident of
Barangay Kauran, Ampatuan town who requested not to be named, said most men in the
village during the New Year revelry were in full battle as threats of BIFF attacks
were imminent.

Hours before 2016 came,
the BIFF launched simultaneous attacks in the nearby villages of in Shariff
Aguak, Shariff Saydona and Datu Piang town against Army detachments of 601st
brigade.

Although no casualty was
reported on New Year’s Eve attacks, village watchmen in Kauran said they
considered the threats very seriously.

The threat was real
and we don’t want to add more casualties in our village,” he said in the
Filipino.

Six farmer residents
of Kauran were killed during Christmas attack by BIFF. They are still mourning
the demise of farmers who were unarmed as against claimed by Abu Misri Mama,
BIFF spokesperson.

In Esperanza town, the
local government unit has to transport evacuees, composed of about 225 families
or more than 1,000 individuals back and forth to the town gymnasium.

Esperanza Mayor Helen
Latog said the displaced residents are dwellers near the border of Maguindanao
and Sultan Kudarat who are vulnerable to BIFF harassment.

Three of the locals from
Esperanza were killed at the height of BIFF rampage on Christmas Eve.

At night, they stay
at the gymnasium while at day time male farmers go to farm lands to oversee rice
fields,” Latog said.

Relief, burial
assistance

In Kauran, Ampatuan,
about 700 families, composed of Ilonggo settlers and Teduray Indigenous Peoples,
made the Kauran gymnasium their temporary homes.

Before New Year, Maguindanao
Governor Esmael Mangudadatu visited and distributed relief goods from the
provincial government’s coffer.

sand//scontent-hkg3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlp1/v/t1.0-9/600377_1233606569999091_5837662521540134928_n.jpg?oh=7594dd9ac3857e20c69e7b8a8af4ba68andampoe=571F0BDA (Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu {in blue sweat shirt} and 6th ID commander Maj.Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan distribute relief goods to Ampatuan displaced families.) He also handed over burial
assistance to the family of slain farmers amounting to P10,000 pesos, a sack of
rice and arranged educational assistance children who lost their fathers.
Maguindanao has Mag-Peace”
scholarship program and Mangudadatu wanted these children included in the next
year’s scholarship coverage, both for high school and college degrees.

Mangudadatu has been
emotional and teary-eyed when he met with widows and children during a short
visit and conversation with the orphaned.

His brothers,
Assemblyman Khadaffy, Mayor Freddie and businessman Jong joined him. They too extended financial assistance.

When I saw the
photos of those killed, it reminded me of the carnage that happened to my
family in 2009, in this town also, those who took the lives of your loved ones were
beast people,” Mangudadatu, clinching his fist, said in between sobs.

In his speech before hundreds
of families gathered in Kauran Gymnasium, Mangudadatu condemned the brutality committed
by BIFF.

He said the issue
here was not about Moro and Christian conflict but purely a banditry and
terrorism inflicted by BIFF.

These lands owned by
the Ilonggo’s were brought by the owners in good faith, they were titled, there
is no land conflict here when I investigated, these BIFF rogues just wanted to
sow terror,” the governor said.

Mangudadatu also appealed
to the MILF leadership to help contain BIFF rampage.

I am appealing to
the MILF leadership, they should help the government in running after these
rogue elements,” he said. The MILF
should be one with us and the government putting an end to BIFF’s violent
activities and let peace reign in all communities in the Bangsamoro Land,” Mangudadatu
said.

sand//fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xft1/v/t1.0-9/12301694_1233607459999002_4990389534309801731_n.jpg?oh=3aa4b40d3c482d8b19edd6ddc7c3b048andampoe=571AE10Dandamp__gda__=1461119084_f62f0aa858382c3a37dff6608952d9d9 (The elderly and children seek refuge in Kauran barangay covered court after BIFF attacks in Ampatuan, Maguindanao- photos by Ferdinandh Cabrera) A village councilman
in Barangay Kauran said he wondered why the MILF did not recognize the BIFF when
in fact they have to pass by MILF camps before reaching our village.”

Mangudadatu also
appealed to the residents, especially the relatives of the dead, to refrain
from putting the law into their hands by revenge. He assured them the
government is pursuing the lawless elements.

Reports have been
circulating about the resurrection of the dreaded Ilaga” group, composed of
Christian vigilantes and mercenaries who used amulets in combat. The group
gained notoriety during the Moro uprising in the 1970s.

Let justice prevail,
we are one with you in running and filing charges against the BIFF. Like me who
also lost loved ones in similar carnage, we did not put the law in our hands
and let the law takes its course,” Mangudadatu told the villagers.

In North Cotabato, Jabib
Guaibar, the MILF’s Local Monitoring Team representative, agreed to calls for
the MILF to help in running after the BIFF.

However, our hands are
tied here (because) we have no mandate or authority to run after them unless we
are now part of the government, that is one issue indicated in the BBL,” he
said.

The BIFF broke away from
the MILF following the bouched signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on
Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) in 2008. It
also rejected the GPH-MILF Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro and the
draft Bangsamoro Basic Law.

Instead, it continued
armed struggle to establish an independent Islamic State in Mindanao.

More troops up for
deployment in North Cotabato

The 6th Infantry
Division has pledged to deploy more troops in farm communities where the farmers
are regularly harassed by the BIFF.

In a meeting with
local government officials in Mlang, North Cotabato, Ampatuan, Maguindanao and
Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat, 6th Division Commander Major General Edmundo
Pangilinan recommended for additional troops for deployment in conflict zone.

There is no let up
in running against these demonic BIFF rebels, we will provide more troops to
areas where civilians are prone to attacks,” Pangilinan said.

Meanwhile, Pangilinan
denied reports that the incident in Mlang, North Cotabato is another BIFF
attack against the farmers.

The hostilities in
Barangay Tibao, Mlang on December 27 was family feud involving a 10-hectare
land both claimed by Moro and Ilonggo farmers, Pangilinan said as attested by
Mlang Mayor Joselito Pinol. (Ferdinandh Cabrera)