Maranaos offer P1M for imam’s killer

UNITY The Muslim community in Baguio City gathers on Dec. 16, urging police to act swiftly to solve the murder of Bedejim Abdullah, a respected Muslim figure in the city. —KIMBERLIE QUITASOL

Maranao residents in Marawi City and Lanao del Sur province have put up a P1-million reward for information that may lead to the capture of the killer of a popular cleric in Baguio City, Imam Bedejim Abdullah.

In Baguio, the city’s Muslim community gathered at Burnham Park on Sunday to offer prayers for Abdullah and to call on Christians and Muslims to continue fostering peace.

Abdullah was shot dead by a lone assassin on Dec. 6 near the Baguio public market. His murder was recorded by security cameras but his attacker had not yet been arrested.

Photographs of the gunman had been circulated in Baguio newspapers as well as over social media.

Connections

Investigators were trying to establish the suspect’s connections to Abdullah, who was about to enter his office on Kayang Street in Baguio when he was shot several times, according to Senior Insp. Annie Comising, Baguio police information officer.

During the Baguio prayer rally, Abdul Malik, Abdullah’s son, called on the authorities “to help us in our search for justice so that this will not happen again to anyone.”

“In this peaceful prayer rally let us ask Allah to give justice to our dear brother Imam Bedejim … We call on the police to solve the murder of our brother,” said Abdul Macarimpas, regional director of the National Commission on Muslim Filipino.

Goodness

Ustad Abdullah, who lives in Nueva Ecija province, said many of those who joined the rally came from different faiths. “This signified the goodness of Imam Bedejim,” he said as he urged everyone to continue the cleric’s advocacy for peace.

“We should uphold the law as we demand our right for equal protection of the law,” he added.

Another speaker, television show host Kiko Rustia, said Abdullah “may not be my brother by blood or religion but he is my brother by heart.”

Cyclist

Rustia said he met Abdullah 15 years ago at a biking trail in Baguio while his television crew was shooting a segment for his show.

“Our paths crossed that day and we just clicked,” he said. “He was having a picnic with his family then and he invited me to join them, and that was the start of our friendship,” he said.

An avid cyclist, Abdullah was part of a group of cyclists that was helping promote environmental protection in the Cordillera.

RAGING FIRE Maranao people from Marawi City burn a poster bearing the face of the suspect in the killing of Abdullah. -RICHEL V. UMEL

In Marawi, participants in a prayer rally burned a tarpaulin imprinted with the face of Abdullah’s suspected killer.

Agakhan Sharief, a Lanao leader, said that while they may have the face of the suspect, his identity had not been established.

He asked President Duterte to help solve the killing of Abdullah, the fourth case of violence against an imam. He also referred to the wounding of another imam by a security guard recently in Zamboanga City.

“The motive for killing Abdullah is still not clear. The suspect’s face is clear in this tarpaulin [that was set on fire] but his identity eludes the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Baguio City. It’s possible the killer is not from Baguio,” Sharief said.

Assurance

Last week, a Muslim group in Baguio met with Mayor Mauricio Domogan, who assured them they were safe in the city.

BROTHERS Muslim residents of Quiapo, Manila, call for justice for preacher Bedejim Abdullah, who was killed in Baguio City. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

The group told Domogan that it was closing ranks against any person or group that may benefit from the death of Abdullah, a volunteer cleric at the Philippine Military Academy based in Baguio.

Domogan called for the meeting to stave off Muslim restiveness over the murder as well as to seek the Muslim community’s help in tracking down the killer.

“Please don’t think that there will be retaliation or some sort of revenge [because of Abdullah’s murder]. It is just not the way anymore for Muslims in Baguio. We have assimilated with the community in our many years of stay here,” they told Domogan. —REPORTS FROM KIMBERLIE QUITASOL AND RICHEL V. UMEL