ZAMBOANGA CITY—Senior Supt. Jose Chiquito Malayo, the city police chief, was not held hostage by Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebels, but was trapped in a mangrove swamp with the armed men.
Malayo was reported at noon on Tuesday to have been held hostage by MNLF gunmen in Mampang village.
But around 6 p.m., the police chief came out of the mangrove swamp with 23 MNLF surrenderees.
Trapped in the mangrove swamp while fighting was going on around them, Malayo radioed his police forces to order a ceasefire.
“I ordered a ceasefire and I radioed headquarters that there were MNLF rebels with me and that they never fired a single shot and were hiding in the swamp,” he said.
“I thought we would be killed there because of the intense exchange of fire and we were in the middle,” Malayo said.
In an interview with the Inquirer on Wednesday, Malayo said he went to Mampang around 9 a.m. on Tuesday after receiving reports of fighting that caused panic among residents there.
He said his immediate superior had ordered him to proceed to Mampang and that he should supervise the troops in the area.
Blocking force
In Mampang, Malayo said he ordered his men to spread out in the mangrove swamp to serve as a blocking force.
When the firing ceased, Malayo said he and his men started to move out but shots rang out again.
He said most of his men had already moved out, leaving him and three others in the swamp.
“The firing continued and we did not know where it came from—it could be from our troops or from the enemy. We were trapped in a mangrove at that time,” he said.
When the firing subsided, Malayo and his men started to move out. Just then, Malayo said he saw movement some two meters away from where they were.
“We bumped into each other. We pointed our guns at each other. There were four of us. There were many of them,” Malayo said.
At first, Malayo thought the armed men were government soldiers.
“I quickly scanned their uniforms and I saw they were MNLF,” he said.
‘Let’s talk’
But Malayo said he sensed the MNLF gunmen were also scared.
“I saw fear in their eyes and I took advantage of it. I told them, ‘We will all die here because all the military and police forces are bearing down on this place and they can pound our location any time now,’” Malayo said.
One of the MNLF men said, “Let’s talk, if that’s OK with you.”
“I took the opportunity and while we were taking cover, they told me their story,” Malayo said.
They want to leave Zamboanga
Malayo learned that Usong Uggong and his MNLF group traveled to Zamboanga City from Lamitan City in the island province of Basilan to join a march to Plaza Pershing.
Uggong said that his group arrived in Mampang on Sept. 9, the first day of skirmishes with government security forces.
“They were not able to merge with the (other) group in Talon-Talon (village) when they learned about the fighting. They decided to withdraw and got stuck in the mangrove swamp for about 10 days,” Malayo said.
“They want to be taken back to Basilan, to their families,” Malayo added.
Around 4 p.m., Malayo called his superior, announcing that 23 MNLF men had decided to surrender.
“It was divine intervention that all of us are still alive after that incident,” Malayo said.
Turnover
At 6 p.m. Malayo brought the 23 MNLF men to Western Mindanao Command headquarters.
Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said the MNLF surrenderers did not take part in the fighting.
“When the fighting started, they were in the mangrove swamp waiting for the shooting to stop,” Roxas said.
He said the surrenderers’ story would be verified.
What happens to them depends on the prosecutors, he said.
Investigators who checked their belongings found brand-new cameras, scarves, bolos, money and packs of stale fast food.
The MNLF fighters surrendered 20 high-powered firearms and ammunition.
Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said Uggong was one of the MNLF commanders who led a march on Lamitan City last month.
Independence
The rebels from the MNLF faction led by Nur Misuari arrived in the city in boats on Sept. 9 claiming they were supposed to march to Plaza Pershing where they would hold a rally.
Opposing peace talks between the government and the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Misuari declared an “independent Bangsamoro Republik” in July and appointed himself as leader of the Bangsamoro armed forces.
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