Police blame Zambo massacre on pirates seeking revenge

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—His classes over Thursday afternoon, 12-year-old Henrito Bayambang was walking home from the Tininghalang Elementary School in Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur, when he ran into several armed men.

Without uttering a word, the men peppered the boy’s body with bullets, killing him instantly. Not content with that, the men drew their machetes and took turns hacking Bayambang’s body.

That was the story given by Senior Superintendent Jose Bayani Gucela, Zamboanga del Sur police director, as he recounted witnesses’ accounts of the deadly attack carried out by suspected pirates on the village of Bahing on Thursday.

About a hundred meters from where the boy was killed, five other people, among them a toddler, were also killed. The intruders also peppered them with bullets and hurled dynamite at houses, Gucela said. When the smoke cleared, a total of six persons were dead and 14 others wounded.

“The attackers were extremely angry, (judging) from the way the victims were killed,” Gucela said.

Gucela said investigation showed that the armed men, numbering 15, arrived on Sitio (sub-village) Bahing in Barangay (village) Tininghalang around 5:30 p.m.

“After throwing dynamite, they strafed and shot anyone who came into sight. They also started hacking the victims,” he said.

The other fatlities were identified as Junjun Tumbal Bangholot, 55; couple Rex Langhay, 29, and Raquel, 25; Karyl Daano, 2, and Daylin Golpin, 29.

They were all hacked as well, the girl several times in the head, according to Gucela.

Gucela said the motive of the attackers appeared to be revenge.

He said the leaders of the group were identified as the brothers Ami and Pahad Andi.

“They suspected that members of the community were responsible for providing information to the police on the whereabouts of their elder brother, Sammang,” he said.

Gucela said Sammang, an alleged pirate leader engaged in kidnapping and extortion in Lapuyan, was killed during a police and military operation on February 11.

Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, spokesperson of the Western Mindanao Command, said local militiamen in Lapuyan helped the police and the military in locating Sammang Andi.

“The operation resulted in the neutralization of Sammang Andi. The attackers were blaming militiamen, especially Dencio Tabayag, who served as guide in neutralizing Sammang,” Cabangbang said.

He said most of those killed were Tabayag’s relatives.

Gucela said responding policemen from the town center did not catch up with the attackers. They arrived late, he said, because they were slowed down by the poor condition of the road to Tininghalang.

He said police have mounted an operation to pursue the killers but the lawmen have not sighted anyone thus far.

Gucela said residents of Sitio Bahing have decided to leave their homes following Thursday’s carnage.

“They fear that the armed men will return,” he said.