For the residents of Baranggay Kitango in Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, there is no one to blame for the death of the two children on the Eid’l Fitr celebration but the military that is based in a nearby detachment, said Kawagib Moro in a statement sent to media today.
“We hope that the Bangsamoro government help the families pursue justice and hold accountable the military for the death of the two girls and violating the rights of the community in Bgy. Kitango,” said the group.
They added that previous incidents have remain unpunished, such as the death of a four-year-old girl Asmayra Usman and the wounding of her father Arsad Usman due to the firing of a 50-caliber gun by the military in an evacuation center in Bgy. Salbo in Datu Saudi Ampatuan on August 21, 2012.
Two days after the incident, Carlito Galvez Jr., presidential peace adviser, currently National Task Force COVID-19 chief implementer and former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief, said he gave the order for an investigation to be conducted.
“We are saddened by what transpired on Sunday. We would like to assure our Moro brothers and sisters that we shall leave no stone unturned as we seek justice for the victims,” Galvez said in a statement on May 26.
The army and the police vowed to conduct separate probes on the incident, while the Commission on Human Rights was also called on to conduct an independent investigation.
The observance of Eid’l Fitr is among the biggest and most honored festivity in Islam, though somewhat muted this year due that the whole country is still under quarantine and some areas such as Metro Manila still on lockdown because of the COVID-19 outbreak. For some Muslim children, May 24 this year marked their first completion of the fast. However, the day ended in tragedy for two little girls and their family.
May 24 Eid’l Fitr bombing*
On May 24, 2020, 3:15 PM, at least two houses in Sitio Amai Zailon in Baranggay Kitango, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao were hit by 81 mm mortar which resulted to the death of Aslamiya Adam Tambak, 10 years old, and her sister Asnaida Adam Tambak, 7 yrs old, both females.
Shrapnels of the mortar hit their mother, Noraisa Adam Tambak, 40 yrs old, at the pelvic area and their brother, Norsayid Ulama, 5 yrs old. Twelve other relatives in the same sitio were injured, including a five-year old male, Johad Sing. They were immediately brought to Cotabato Regional Medical Center in Cotabato City.
Citing at least four 81 mm mortar shells that hit their houses in Sitio Amai Zailon in Baranggay Kitango on May 24, Sayyid Tambak, the father of the two girls that died, can only point to the military as the unit that uses mortars as their arsenal in warfare.
When asked in a video interview by the field reporter of Balita Mindanao, Sayyid Tambak pointed to the mechanized battalion as the ones responsible for the mortar shelling.
Backing his statement is his cousin Abu Talhan Zailon who said that the community is familiar with the military strategy of using mortar shelling to flush out the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in communities in the second district of Maguindanao.
He added that in the morning of the incident, he and the other farmers who went to their farmland in Sitio Paginoman in Bgy. Elian had heard at least 10 rounds of mortar shelling in the direction of Bgy. Elian.
Lt. Colonel Edgardo Vilchez, the spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, denied conducting military operations on May 24 in observance of the Eid’l Fitr celebration. He confirmed that the 1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion based in Bgy. Elian, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, and the 57th Infantry Battalion based in Bgy. Elian and Bgy. Salibo, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao, are the units who have been chasing the BIFF in the Second District of Maguindanao for months now. Vilchez said skirmishes between elements of 57th Infantry BIFF had been going on since Thursday last week.
However, in a situational report submitted by the Ministry of Social Service and Development in the province of Maguindanao, at least 6,410 persons or 1,282 families were forced to evacuate from barangays Elian, Kitango, and Dapiawan of Datu Saudi Ampatuan due to mortar shelling by the military on May 24.
The eleven others who were injured due to mortar shelling on May 24 in Bgy. Kitango were Muslima Tambak, 40 yrs. old, Badria Ebus, 35, Aida Kembeg, 35, Tata Kembeg, 30, Mia Tambak, 20, Najima Pua, 16, Jepu Pua, 15 – all females. The males are Mati Ali, 45, Halid Dagedeban, 21, Salonga Marcos, 20, and Saud Ebus, 7.
Two days earlier, on May 22, the military also conducted mortar shelling in Sitio Bayog, in Bgy. Dapiawan at 9:00 in the morning resulting to the death of Ustadz Abdul Madidis, a respected local religious leader.
*Kawagib Moro documented details of the Eid’l Fitr bombing incident.
