Kin of 3 adolescents killed in “shootout” seek CHR’s help
Peace and Order • 15:30 PM Mon Dec 5, 2022
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By:
John M. Unson
The slain adolescents (from left) Samanudin, Horton and Arsad. (Courtesy of Ansa family)
TACURONG CITY --- The families of the three adolescents killed in an alleged shootout with policemen late Friday have urged the Commission on Human Rights to put closure to the incident.
The fatalities, Samanudin Ali, Horton Ansa, Jr. and cousin Arsad Ansa, died instantly from gunshot wounds and were immediately buried by relatives in keeping with Islamic tradition of burying the dead within 24 hours after death.
Major Jenahmeel Toñacao, police chief of Lambayong municipality in Sultan Kudarat province, reiterated Monday his assertions last Saturday that Ali and the Ansas were killed in a gunfight with policemen in Barangay Didtaras at about midnight Friday.
Toñacao said Ali and his two companions, riding a motorcycle together, were first flagged down by policemen in a security roadblock in Barangay Didtaras in Lambayong, but turned around and sped away.
Toñacao said they opened fire at policemen who cornered them after a brief chase, sparking a gunfight that led to their deaths.
Relatives of the victims had told reporters they have witnesses who refuted assertions by Toñacao about the shootout and that investigators recovered from them two .45 caliber pistols and a fragmentation grenade.
Toñacao said they also found a sachet of shabu in the trouser pocket of one of them.
Ali had gunshot wounds in both palms, in what witnesses said was a tacit proof that he raised his hands as policemen shot him with assault rifles.
The father of the slain Horton, Horton Ansa, Sr., is a police patrolman assigned in one of the towns in nearby Maguindanao province.
He told reporters there were indications that his son and his two companions were shot at close range.
Relatives told reporters Arsad, who is a cousin of Horton, Jr., was first strangled by policemen using his shirt before they shot him dead.
"He was not a violent person. We want justice for their horrible deaths," Arsad's mother, Soraina, an ethnic Maguindanaon, told reporters Monday.
A popular human rights lawyer in Cotabato City, Ronald Hallid Dimacisil Torres, offered to help for free the families of the three adolescents if they intend to prosecute the policemen tagged in the death of the victims.
In a statement Monday, Sultan Kudarat Gov. Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu called for an independent probe on the incident.
He also asked Brig. Gen. Jamili Macaraeg, director of the Police Regional Office-12, to relieve Toñacao and his men from the Lambayong Municipal Police Station to pave the way for an impartial probe on the death of Ali and the Ansas.