COTABATO CITY -- Hundreds of Muslims and Christians filled the Holy Rosary Church in the Tawi-Tawi capital of Bongao, where the remains of Fr. Jesus Reynaldo “Rey” Roda were taken, Fr. Bert Layson, parish priest of Pikit, North Cotabato, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on the phone.

“They were united. Even the Muslims there brought food, according to our colleagues in Bongao,” Layson said.

Aleem Abdulwahid Inju, head of the Darul Ifta (House of Opinion) in Tawi-Tawi, said Muslims in the entire province were in mourning.

“We lost a dear friend,” Inju said by phone from his residence in Bongao. “The Darul Ifta condemns the killing. Father Roda was well loved because he was so kind. In fact, he built a mosque for Muslim students on the Notre Dame [campus].”

Roda, a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) congregation, was director of the Notre Dame school in Tabawan town and head of the mission station there. He was to turn 54 next month.

The OMI runs not only the Notre Dame school but also community outreach humanitarian projects, including money-lending for the livelihood of Samah and Tausug fisherfolk.

Inju said it was not certain if the extremist Abu Sayyaf was behind the murder, as believed.

“There was no reason to kill Father Roda,” Inju said. “Allah is not happy with this incident. The police must find and prosecute his killers.”

Switching vessels

The 10 gunmen who murdered Roda are holding captive Omar Taup, a teacher at Notre Dame, and fisherman Hussin Sahirul, who they seized as they fled, said Supt. Wainwright Taup, the police director of Tawi-Tawi.

Taup said dozens of policemen and Marines were tracking down the gunmen believed to be hiding on one of the small islands bordering the island-provinces of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu.

He quoted reports from Tawi-Tawi officials and Muslim leaders that said the gunmen had been switching from speedboat to pump boat to outrigger fishing boat to avoid detection.

There are more than a dozen island-towns in Tawi-Tawi.

Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, police director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, has sought the help of Tawi-Tawi Gov. Sadikul Sahali and religious leaders in locating the gunmen and their two captives, according to Supt. Danilo Bacas, spokesperson of the ARMM police.

Bacas said the pursuit operation was being closely coordinated with units of the Marine Corps in Tawi-Tawi.

Tawi-Tawi Vice Gov. Ruby Sahali-Tan said all of the mayors in the province were helping determine the identities of the gunmen and their location.

“The provincial board strongly condemns the brutal murder of Father Roda, who had been helping improve the lives of people in one of the towns in Tawi-Tawi,” Sahali-Tan said in a text message to reporters.

Inviolable

Sheikh Mohammad Muntassir, head of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s Da’wah (Call to Islam) Committee, said the lives of noncombatants, including priests, were held inviolable in Islam.

He said the murder of Roda was an indication of the worsening situation in the country where no one was now spared.

“We condemn this killing in the highest possible terms, and the killers deserve hell for their barbaric act,” Muntassir said.

The Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID) also denounced the killing as barbaric, and said Roda was a loss not only to his family and religious order but to “all peace-loving people.”

Roda’s death “demonstrates that peace is difficult and requires the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. Father Rey has made the supreme and heroic sacrifice,” the PCID said in a statement.

It added: “We appeal to the authorities to exhaust all legal means to ensure that justice is served. The last thing we want is to desecrate the sacrifice made by Father Rey and the others who gave their lives so that the people of Muslim Mindanao can finally enjoy the decent life they deserve.”

Just solution

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said he was “deeply saddened” by the cruel death of his colleague.

“We condemn the violence and pray for a just solution,” Lagdameo said and extended the CBCP’s sympathies to Roda’s family and parishioners.

Fr. Ramon Bernabe, head of the OMI in the Philippines, said the congregation was deeply grieved by the death of a dedicated missionary who offered his life for the poor.

According to Bernabe, Roda once told him of a kidnapping threat but just shrugged it off, saying he would rather die than suffer the pain of being abducted by bandits.

“He also did not request a transfer of assignment despite the threat,” Bernabe said.

Roda’s remains will be brought to Cotabato City on Saturday and buried at the OMI cemetery in Shariff Kabunsuan province on Jan. 23.