7 killed in Datu Paglas raid; mother of 2 victims appeals for justice
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 18 June) – Seven persons were killed in a raid Sunday dawn in Datu Paglas town in Maguindanao while a member of the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police was wounded in the operation.
Brig. General Allan Nobleza, regional commander of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said the two main targets – Datdat Usop and Tutin Usop – were among those killed.
“These are the groups involved in the bombing of the National Grid Corporation’s towers in Carmen, Cotabato in 2016 and in other criminal activities,” Nobleza said.
The group was also said to have been involved in the May 9, 2021 siege in Datu Paglas which was blamed on the ISIS-inspired Karialan Group of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). The 2019 attack displaced hundreds of residents and caused the day-long closure of a stretch of the national highway.
But Mirinda Madidis Husain, mother of two of the victims, claimed in an interview by Brigada News that there are no BIFF members in the area but Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members. She said her son Nasser Yusoph Madidis Husain was a brigade commander of the MILF.
Maguindanao Del Sur Police Provincial Commander Col. Roel Sermese said it was a joint police and military operation.
Nobleza said the joint security forces were armed with search warrants but when they reached the target village in Brgy. Damawato at around 2 a.m. Sunday, they were welcomed by a burst of gunfire.
“It was a fierce firefight that lasted more than an hour and half,” Nobleza said.
According to the report of the Provincial Police to the Police Regional Office of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the raid was based on Search warrant No. 02-2023 issued on June 16 by Angelito Rasalan, Acting Presiding Judge of the 12th Judicial Region, for violation of RA 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, against Norjihad Madidis Husain alias Datdat Usop) of the BIFF’s Karialan faction. The operation, however, led to an armed encounter.
The report said elements of the Provincial Intelligence Unit of the PPO in Maguindanao del Sur, in coordination with the municipal police station of Datu Paglas.
Several high powered firearms, pistols and ammunitions were recovered from the encounter site.
Mom cries for justice
Mirinda Madidis Husain, the mother of two of the victims,
recalled in the Brigada News interview, that at around 12 midnight, she felt something was wrong because “parang maingay ba” (it was noisy). By 1 a.m. they were being fired at, firing that she claimed lasted until around 2 a.m. She said the gunshots were “marami” (many).
“Basta na lang binaril kami tapos pinasok” (They suddenly fired at us and barged into our houses), she said, adding that when she asked if they had a warrant of arrest, a gun was pointed at her and she collapsed.
She said one of her sons, Nasser Yusoph, fired back in self-defense. She said only Nasser had a firearm, as Brigade Commander of the MILF in the area.
She also claimed that all seven were handcuffed, including her son who was wounded. “Yung dalawa nakaposas. Lahat sila nakaposas… Nakaposas sila bago pinatay (The two were handcuffed. All of them were handcuffed… They were handcuffed before they were killed), she said.
The victims, she added, were killed in different areas, one of them hit in the mosque.
Her appeal to authorities is “hustisya lang po sa mga anak ko ko kasi wala silang kasalanan” (Justice for my sons because they are not at fault), she said.
The police claimed the victims fought back. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)
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