Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said their agents have confirmed eyewitness accounts that Untong Abdullah, who was abducted Tuesday by retreating MILF guerrillas, was shot dead and buried by the his captors in a shallow grave in Barangay Nabalawag, Midsayap Wednesday. The rebels who abducted Abdullah were led by a certain Samal Masgal, Ando said.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu and Von Al-Haq, chairman of the front’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), both said the rebels merely held Abdullah for questioning and were ready to set him free to the joint ceasefire committee.
Abdullah worked as a messenger for Midsayap’s ABC president, Edgar Ostique.
Ando said Abdullah was abducted by the rebels while en route to Barangay Kapinpilan, Midsayap, just as 300 or so MILF guerrillas were moving away from the areas they plundered last week in a spate of attacks that forced some 6,000 people to evacuate to safer ground.
Ando, quoting some evacuees, said a hogtied Abdullah was seen by civilians being dragged like an animal by his captors to the spot where the retreating rebels shot him in the head.
"People saw him being beaten along the way," Ando said, adding that Abdullah’s captors asked for an "P80,000 ransom" from the ABC of Midsayap in exchange for his safe release.
Lt. Col. Reggie Bernardino, spokesman for the Army’s 602nd Brigade, said Abdullah’s captors may have killed him for his extensive support for the military’s campaign against lawless elements in Midsayap.
However, Bernardino also said Abdullah was never a military asset — a claim Abdullah’s captors made to the people who saw them abduct him.
Ando said they sent emissaries to convince Abdullah’s relatives not to retaliate and instead, allow the local police to file criminal charges against the rebels who abducted him.
He also said the military has asked the chairman of the government’s CCCH to investigate Abdullah’s reported execution despite the supposed enforcement of a low-level truce mandating the MILF and the military to take up positions away from Midsayap’s Barangays Rangaban, Mudsing and Sambulawan and desist from initiating provocative actions to prevent a repeat of the Jan. 25 to 27 hostilities in the three villages.
The truce was forged Sunday and was signed by Gurrea, Al-Haq and Malaysian Gen. Ismail Khan of the International Monitoring Team.
Kabalu has neither confirmed nor denied Abdullah’s reported execution but said they are still verifying the incident.
Midsayap Mayor Romeo Araña, who also chairs the municipal peace and order council, said the reports on Abdullah’s death "spread like wildfire" and created tension in areas affected by last week’s MILF-military encounters.
"There are lots of speculations. We’re praying and working hard for the situation not to be blown out of proportion," Araña said.
Brig Gen. Edgardo Gurrea, chairman of the government’s CCCH, has asked Midsayap residents to remain calm and allow the joint ceasefire committee to peacefully address the security problems in the municipality.
Meanwhile, the long-standing conflict between Muslim and Christian residents emerged as the root cause of the recurring clashes in Midsayap.
According to Midsayap’s local officials and residents, the problem occurs usually during the harvest season, since the affected areas cover vast tracts of ricefields.
"It is not a problem that just occurred now. The conflict has been there a long time ago. They keep fighting during harvest season and it will happen again and again unless government does something to really solve it and not just the fighting now," Midsayap municipal councilor Roberto Agustin told The STAR.
Skirmishes broke out anew in at least four barangays between government forces and MILF rebels, claiming the lives of six people and displacing over 7,000 residents in the area.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said efforts are being made to address the very root of the lingering conflict in Midsayap: "We shall not only solve the existing problem right now with regard to the clashes, but we shall also find solutions to why this problem continues to linger."
Midsayap’s Barangays Mudsing, Tugal, Rangaban and Nes, had earlier been declared sanctuaries before the peace was disrupted anew by the recurring conflict between the MILF rebels and the military.
Dureza met early this week with the chiefs of Midsayap’s seven villages in a closed-door consultation during which they reportedly discussed mechanisms for resolving the peace and order problems in the area.
A fact-finding team will be established to look into the latest clash and recommend solutions to prevent such problems from happening in the future. — With Edith Regalado