Tuesday, August 12, 2008 3 policemen, including Tipo-Tipo police chief, ‘cannot be located’
MORO Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels swooped down on Tipo-tipo town in Basilan yesterday afternoon and briefly took over the police station before government troops flushed them out in the evening, a military officer said.
Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police director, said three policemen, including the police chief of Tipo-Tipo, were missing and “cannot be located” even as civilian sources in the municipality said about 15 MILF fighters were killed in the firefight.
Still, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) declared the ARMM elections as generally peaceful except for the firefight and ballot snatching incidents in Basilan.
In North Cotabato, the military, backed by helicopter gunships, regained control of two villages occupied by MILF rebels in Midsayap town and pressed ahead with a massive assault to clear 13 others.
The province is not among those under ARMM.
Ultimatum
At least one army soldier and seven MILF guerrillas have been killed since nearly 3,000 troops and police launched the attack on Sunday.
The assault, backed by artillery and rocket-firing helicopters, came after the guerrillas defied an ultimatum to withdraw from five towns in North Cotabato province, military vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Cardozo Luna said.
The fighting has forced about 130,000 villagers to flee their homes.
Army troops closed a stretch of a major highway linking North Cotabato to outlying areas after about 200 guerrillas fired at passing buses in Pikit town, killing a villager who was running to safety with his family, police Senior Inspector Elias Dandan said.
Suspected MILF guerrillas also bombed three power transmission pylons in nearby Lanao del Norte province, causing brief power outages, officials said.
Luna, who was helping oversee the government assault, said the guerrillas withdrew from two villages in Midsayap town amid heavy fighting.
However, he said troops were encountering fierce resistance from hundreds of rebels occupying 13 other villages, mostly in a marshland where the army’s advance was hampered by frequent downpours and the muddy terrain.
“They are resisting heavily,” Luna told reporters but added, “I don’t think it can last.”
Breakaway
The two recovered villages were being checked by troops for possible booby traps before residents could be allowed to return, he said.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro earlier said the guerrillas led by a key regional commander, Ameril Umbra Kato, were no longer following the orders of MILF leaders.
But rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu denied Teodoro’s claim, saying Kato remains a loyal commander with the full support of the 11,000-strong MILF.
Kato told Kabalu on Sunday that his men were prepared to move away from the North Cotabato villages but came under fire from armed Christian villagers, wounding one rebel.
The attack prompted them to stay put until the government could guarantee their safety during their withdrawal, Kabalu told The Associated Press by telephone.
Meanwhile, about 1.5 million Filipino Muslims in the autonomous region voted under heavy security yesterday for a new governor, vice governor and other posts in the
regional assembly.
But unidentified men snatched at least six ballot boxes in Barangay Tumahubong, which covers five precincts with 1,566 voters, and Barangay Baiwas, which covers a precinct with 330 voters, both in Sumisip, Basilan.
Special elections
Comelec Commissioner Jose Melo said they will conduct special elections for the barangays if the number of voters will affect the election results.
Another incident of ballot snatching was reported in Barangay Togaig in the town of Barira in Shariff Kabunsuan, but the ballot boxes were recovered and the elections in the area pushed through.
In the town of Akbar also in Basilan, the Comelec received a report that the board election inspectors (BEI) in two barangays involving 789 voters refused to serve due to a shootout during the transport of ballot boxes to the polling center.
Melo said they appointed police personnel and other civil servants of known probity to act as BEIs to assist voters from Barangays Mangalut and Manguso, with 479 voters (two precincts) and 310 voters (one precinct), respectively.
Meanwhile, the Comelec said no failure of elections were reported in the ARMM’s four other provinces, namely, Sulu, Tawi-tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur. (Sunnex/AP/GMANews.TV)
