Coddler of wanted person killed in Maguindanao del Norte police operation

COTABATO CITY — A police team shot dead a coddler of a wanted person, linked to criminal activities and known for sheltering drug peddlers and thieves, during a brief shootout in Barangay Meti, a seaside village in Datu Blah Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, on Friday, April 18.

Officials from the Police Regional Office–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said on Sunday, April 20, that police were forced to neutralize Norsaidie Samo Tato after he pulled a gun and opened fire while they were about to arrest his companion, Tingao Tato Titinago.

Agents from the CIDG–Cotabato Field Office, along with municipal police and personnel from the Navy’s 5th Marine Battalion, were set to peacefully serve an arrest warrant to Titinago. However, Tato intervened, triggering a shootout that led to his death.

Titinago managed to escape during the exchange of gunfire between CIDG agents and Tato, who had long served as his coddler.

Police Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz, director of PRO-BAR, expressed gratitude to the 5th Marine Battalion Landing Team of the 1st Marine Brigade, led by Brig. Gen. Romulo Quemado, for their manpower support during the operation in Barangay Meti.

Titinago, known for keeping unlicensed firearms and for providing sanctuary to shabu and marijuana peddlers and thieves, is  wanted for an attempted murder case pending at the Regional Trial Court Branch 19 in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.

The warrant for his arrest from the RTC Branch 19 in Isulan, which recommended a P200,000 bail for his release, was signed by Judge Allan Bongca

In a statement released on Sunday, the Division Public Affairs Office of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division tagged the slain Norsaidie Samo Tato and his companion, Titinago, as terrorists due to their reported links to groups promoting hatred against non-Muslims.

CIDG agents and Marine personnel also recovered assorted firearms and unregistered two-way radios from the duo’s hideout.