Cops form body to probe deadly Cotabato clash

KIDAPAWAN CITY, COTABATO PROVINCE– The Police Regional Office in the Soccsksargen region (PRO-12) has created a Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) to fast-track the investigation of the Nov. 24 hostilities between two Moro groups along the boundary area of this city and Matalam town, which claimed seven lives.

READ: 7 dead as Moro groups clash in Cotabato

Brig. Gen. Arnold Ardiente, PRO Soccsksargen regional director, directed the Cotabato police provincial office on Monday to spearhead the speedy investigation and bring perpetrators behind bars.

He also ordered Colonel Jerson Birrey, acting police provincial director, to lead the investigation.

“Such acts of violence are intolerable and directly threaten the peace and security we work tirelessly to uphold in the region,” Ardiente said.

Of the seven persons who died in the clash that broke out in the village of Malinan along the border of Matalam town at 5 a.m., five were identified as a commander and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and two were identified with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The family of one of the victims said that their family had been locked in a “rido” (clan war) for years, triggering the firefight.

Local officials also claimed that the hostilities were part of an ongoing “rido”  over ownership of a vast tract of land in the village.

Ardiente said the SITG, in coordination with LGU officials, AFP, and the peace process mechanisms in a peace deal between the government and the MILF,  committed themselves to establishing the facts, identifying those responsible, and ensuring that due process was strictly observed during the investigation.

He asked the public to remain calm, refrain from spreading unverified information, and allow the investigation to proceed./coa