(UPDATE 2) 4 killed in ‘friendly fire’ in Zamboanga Sur
By Ryan Rosauro
Mindanao Bureau
First Posted 10:44:00 08/23/2008
Editor’s note: The vice mayor is a he, not a she as earlier reported.
OZAMIZ CITY, Misamis Occidental -- Three security escorts and a driver of a Zamboanga Del Sur town executive were killed during a brief firefight with a composite team of soldiers and policemen in Sto. Niño village in Tukuran, Zamboanga Del Sur, around 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Killed were Master Sergeant Paulino Tacong of the Army's 10th Infantry Battalion, Police Office 1 Michael Uber of the 9th Police Regional Mobile Group, militiaman Tong Abdullah, and driver Halil Hapong.
The Zamboanga Del Sur police said the incident was a “mis-encounter” between friendly forces.
But Labangan town Vice Mayor Wilson Nandang told DxPR radio in Pagadian City that the government forces conducting checkpoint operations in Sto. Niño had actually planned to kill him by staging the "ambush."
Nandang, who was at the tail-end of his three-vehicle convoy, was unharmed in the incident.
He said that while his convoy was approaching the checkpoint, the soldiers and the policemen fired at them without warning.
In a statement, the Zamboanga Del Sur police command said what really transpired was a mis-encounter.
The statement did not say how it started.
Superintendent Ramon Ochotorena, Zamboanga Del Sur police chief, could not be reached for comment.
A human rights lawyer, who requested anonymity, said the "seriousness of the conflicting claims, which are crucial in pinpointing responsibility," should warrant a deeper investigation.
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