COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The story of the four men reportedly executed by firing squad last month in Lanao del Sur is far from over yet.
Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has ordered the Regional Commission on Human Rights (RCHR) to investigate the reported execution of the four, all suspects in the rape, killing and burning of a 14-year-old girl in Barangay Basak, Marawi City on August 14.
The girl was alone at the time of the attack as her family went to a mosque for the Friday prayer.
The suspects, Salman Udag Sambitory, Jabbar Rikta Macacua, Elias Kamote Pimping and Jalil Alilit Sani, were briefly taken into police custody but had to be released after relatives of the girl refused to file charges against them.
They were eventually executed by firing squad, according to reports earlier reaching Hataman.
Among those who confirmed the reported execution was ARMM Vice Gov. Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman Jr.
Lucman said based on his investigation, the execution was a mutual agreement reached by the families of the victims and the suspects.
Lawyer Rasol Mitmug, Hataman’s chief of staff, said a team of investigators from the RCHR were sent to Marawi to conduct a probe.
He said this early, members of the team have received text messages telling them to halt the investigation.
Mitmug said even Hataman has received a similar text message but the governor’s response has been to continue with the investigation.
ARMM Interior and Local Governments Secretary Anwar Malang, a former human rights lawyer, said in any case, a probe could not depend solely on testimonial evidence; it had to be supported by a corpus delicti (corpse recovery).
Until bodies are found, there could be no “air-tight conclusion” that the execution took place, according to Malang.
“That would entail a long process, and needs the intervention of forensic experts and modern laboratory facilities,” Malang said. Nash Maulana, Inquirer Mindanao