P300,000 offered for massacre suspects

ZAMBOANGA CITY—The local governments of Lapuyan and Zamboanga del Sur are offering a P300,000 reward for the arrest or “neutralization” of suspects in Thursday’s mass murder of six people, including two children, in a village in Lapuyan town.

At least 15 members of a crime group, led by brothers Ami and Pahad Andi, went on a shooting rampage in Barangay Lower Tininghalang, Lapuyan, supposedly to avenge the death of their leader, Sammang Andi, in a military operation.

Fourteen others were injured in the rampage.

The Andi brothers are blaming residents of the village for the operation that led to the death of Sammang, who heads a lawless group involved in kidnappings, piracy and other criminal acts.

Senior Supt. Jose Bayani Gucela, Zamboanga del Sur police chief, said the reward offer was made after a meeting of several peace and order councils.

Lapuyan town would shoulder P200,000 and the provincial government would pay the P100,000 for the reward.

“They were heartless killers,” said Gucela of the armed men.

Some of the victims were hacked repeatedly even as they lay dying from gunshot wounds, said Gucela.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said in a statement that police should make a thorough check of the armed men’s backgrounds.

“They are not MILF members,” said Von Al Haq, MILF spokesperson.

Gucela said police have received information that the armed men were connected with a local politician, although he did not identify who that politician is.

Lapuyan Mayor Daylinda Sulong said the community attacked by the armed men became a ghost town after residents started fleeing.

An uneasy peace prevailed yesterday, when residents started to return as soldiers were deployed to the community.

The mayor, however, said the 23 policemen assigned to Lapuyan were not enough for the town’s 26 villages.

Several other officials said soldiers have to be deployed to the town permanently to serve as a backup force for the small police lineup.

The mayor said most of the town’s villages were remote and weren’t easily accessible. Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao