Monday, September 24, 2007 Ampatuan urged to solve bloodshed in Maguindanao
MAGUINDANAO Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan was challenged by a Moro militant youth organization to take immediate actions to resolve the political bloodshed in his province.
In a report posted at Luwaran.com, Youth for Genuine Bangsamoro Empowerment (YGBE) chair Arsad Solaiman called on Ampatuan to "intercede in the fratricidal fighting in Pagalungan in Maguindanao."
He said it is the responsibility of Ampatuan to act immediately and decisively to stop these senseless killings that are taking place right in his own turf even in this holy month of Ramadan.
The latest of these politically related killings involved between two related and once allied clans, the Matalams and the Montawals. The incident involved heavily armed men opening fire on a convoy of former Maguindanao governor Datu Norodin Matalam in Carmen, North Cotabato on September 18. Ten people were killed and three others wounded in the attack.
Two unidentified civilians including a boy were also killed in the incident.
Matalam tagged his political rival in the attempt on his life. Matalam also identified two of the suspects who ambushed them as Limbalod barangay chair Liamad Tayatog and Pagalungan Councilor Mohammad Andoy.
The two, he said, were known supporters of former Pagalungan mayor Macabangen Montawal.
"Political ang posibleng dahilan dito. Inutusan sila sa kalaban ko sa pulitika na Montawal family na siyang nag-utos na patayin ako," Matalam said.
He said Macabangen and his son Ohto allegedly could not accept the fact that the younger Montawal lost to him during the re-canvassing of the Commission on Elections en banc for the Pagalungan mayoralty post in the 2004 elections.
Matalam said he will press charges against Montawal once he and his wife are discharged from the hospital.
"Batas na lamang ang bahala sa kanila. Mag-file ako ng charges against them," he said.
Matalam, also a former vice mayor of Pagalungan in Maguindanao, ran as mayor of the town and is said to be leading on the ongoing recount of the Commission on Elections in Manila after filing election protest against Ohto Montawal.
Solaiman at the same time lambasted Comelec for not proclaiming the real winner in the May 14 polls in the Pagalungan.
He said the Comelec has a share of the responsibility in the bloodshed for not immediately proclaiming the true winners in the municipality.
Security has been intensified in Maguindanao after last week's incident. Dozens of soldiers and policemen have been deployed in strategic areas in Maguindanao's Pagalungan and Montawal towns to prevent more violence between the feuding clans.
Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, police director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, asked local religious leaders to help defuse the tension in Pagalungan and Montawal.
Matalam and his wife were on their way to their farm when an owner-type jeep loaded with gunmen led by Tayatog Guiama-chairman of Barangay Limbalod, Montawal, overtook their Toyota Land Cruiser and opened fire with assault rifles. (BOT)
