Philippine Daily Inquirer Digital Edition

MILF DECRIES MURDER OF KEY ALLY IN MAGUINDANAO

By Edwin O. Fernandez and Taher G. Solaiman @InqNational

DATU ODIN SINSUAT, MAGUINDANAO—The usually bustling public market fronting the municipal hall of Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao province was a deserted place on Saturday, a day after the murder of defeated mayoral aspirant Datu Jamael Sinsuat.

Residents stayed in their homes for fear of being caught up in violence.

Amid rising tensions, Police Col. Roel Sermese, Maguindanao police director, has ordered heightened alert in the town.

Visible around town were police checkpoints. Soldiers, backed by armored personnel carriers, were stationed near the town hall and the public market.

Sinsuat, former village chief of Poblacion Dalican, was shot from behind by a still unidentified gunman while leaving a mosque after congregational prayer on Friday.

According to several witnesses, a companion of Sinsuat traded gunshots with the gunman who quickly crossed the street to escape. The gunman was killed as well as another person who was also leaving the mosque.

An affront

“We condemn the brutal killing of one of our party leaders in Dalican, Datu Jam Q. Sinsuat, Sr,” said Bangsamoro Interior Minister Naguib Sinarimbo, deputy secretary general of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the political party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Top leaders of MILF, which has forged a peace agreement with the government, are now members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, the interim government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“We call on law enforcement agencies to conduct a swift and thorough investigation and immediately bring the perpetrators and everyone behind this to the bars of justice,” he added.

Bangsamoro Education Minister and UBJP vice president Mohaqher Iqbal condemned the attack, not only against Sinsuat but also other party members in the past days.

“We will take this as an affront, not only to the UBJP, but also against the instrumentalities of the government,” Iqbal said in a statement.

Addressing Sinsuat’s family, Iqbal gave assurances “that the UBJP will not turn its back to the family of a fallen comrade.”

Sinarimbo noted that UBJP officials and party leaders have faced “continuing harassment and attack ... since the elections and immediately thereafter.”

Sinsuat was the UBJP’s candidate for mayor of this town in the 2022 local elections. He lost to his nephew, Datu Lester Sinsuat.

“I, my family, together with all the constituents of the Municipality of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao strongly condemn in the highest form the brutal killing of my uncle, Datu Jamael Sinsuat, in broad daylight right after the Friday Jumuah prayer,” said a statement from Mayor Sinsuat on Friday.

“This cruel and cowardly act ... hold[s] no place in our society and community,” Mayor Sinsuat added.

Call for police chief’s relief

As a result of Sinsuat’s killing, Iqbal had asked the regional police leadership to immediately cause the relief of the town’s police chief, noting that the incident happened just a few meters away from the town’s police station.

According to Police Maj. Reggie Abellera, Maguindanao police spokesperson, a shootout occurred in the town center hours after the killing of Sinsuat although no one was reported hurt.

It was not yet known if the shootout was related to Sinsuat’s killing.

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2022-10-02T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-02T07:00:00.0000000Z

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