Stray bullets kill Muslim convert, hurt 5

COTABATO CITY — A 17-year-old Muslim convert was killed and five other people, including a pregnant woman, were injured by stray bullets in yesterday’s Eid’l Fitr revelry here as Muslims ended their month-long observance of the Ramadan fasting season.

"This a very sad development. It will really take time for our people to grow out of their decades-old practice of firing their guns (in the air) as part of the Eid’l Fitr revelry," said City Mayor Muslimin Sema.

Police said Bernard Revilla was on his way home from dawn prayers at a mosque when a stray bullet hit him in the head, killing him on the spot.

Doctors, meanwhile, extracted a caliber .45 lead slug from the leg of James Tan, and a caliber .30 slug, believed fired from an M1 Garand, from the abdomen of Sangcopan Gunila.

The two were the first to be rushed to the Cotabato Regional Medical Center here. The three other injured were Anwar Kadiango, Lito Aplaca and a pregnant woman named Ivy Sumalpong.

Last month, city officials banned the sale of powerful firecrackers to prevent residents from using them during the Eid’l Fitr merry-making and on New Year’s Day too.

"Obviously, because they don’t have any firecrackers to use, they maximized their firing of their weapons to highlight their celebration," said Ustadz Makakena Bongabong, an Egyptian-trained missionary.

Reports said guns were also fired in Sulu and Basilan, while Muslims in Zamboanga City, comprising 38 percent of the local population, marked the end of Ramadan quietly.

During Ramahan, Muslims fast during daylight hours as part of their obligations to the so-called five pillars of their Islamic faith. — With Roel Pareño