Kin of slain ARMM exec won’t back police raps

SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao—Sensing that they could send the wrong man to jail, the family of the slain peace official of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said they did not accede to the filing by police of a murder complaint against the alleged killer.

Policemen in Cotabato City arrested Nasser Wahab, alias “Romnick,” and tagged him the killer of Norodin Manalao, director of the ARMM Regional Reconciliation and Unification Commission (RRUC) in February in the city.

Wahab was identified by witnesses as the triggerman, Senior Supt. Rolen Balquin, Cotabato City police director, told reporters. But Manalao’s wife, Nasurah Kusain, said two witnesses who reviewed the video footage of Wahab’s arrest raised doubts about the arrest.

‘Rido’ reason

“We opted not to file charges as we leave everything to God’s judgment. God will punish whoever did that to my husband,” Nasurah told the Inquirer. She said the family could be courting “rido” (clan war) if it decided to file a case against the wrong suspect.

“Policemen kept talking to us, saying the soul of my husband may not completely rest if we do not file the case. But I said, ‘We don’t want to court trouble that may ironically turn into rido,’ which my husband worked hard to settle among families embroiled in decades of conflict,” she said.

Manalao’s mother, Liwanag, 70, said her son—the youngest and only male among her four children—was a natural peacemaker who had had no known enemy since his childhood. His murder, thus, came as a big shock to the family, she said.

Nasurah said her husband was not entitled to government benefits since he was a contractual employee.

RRUC acting chair Ismael Maulana said Manalao’s employment status is common in the commission.

Nasurah admitted that her husband’s death had thrust the family into financial difficulty. Nash Maulana, Inquirer Mindanao