Cornfields rise anew at scenes of bloody encounters

MAMASAPANO, Maguindanao —Farmers are looking forward to their first corn harvest, a year after blood literally sprinkled the fields in Barangay Tukanalipao where elite police commandos died in battle while on a mission to get a wanted Malaysian terrorist.

Malumpil Dagandalan, who owns the small farmland that was the scene of the bloodbath, says he used to harvest 30 sacks of corn grains from his field. He doubts if he could even reap four sacks, but for another reason—rat infestation.

Dagandalan’s house was hit and damaged by an M-79 mortar bomb fired during the encounter between members of the 55th Company of the Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force (SAF) and armed followers of the Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” and rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Thirty-five SAF members were killed in Dagandalan’s land, while nine others belonging to the 84th company also died in another battleground in nearby Sitio Inogog. The MILF reported the death of 17 rebels and three civilians.

Fertile delta

The places are part of a delta of fertile soil formed by the erratic downstream course of the Ala and Dansalan rivers.

The clash on Jan. 25, 2015, variably called a massacre and a misencounter, has put in doubt the passage of what could be the Aquino administration’s landmark bill on a Bangsamoro autonomous setup that seeks to end decades of Moro insurgency in Mindanao.

Mayor Benzar Ampatuan says this year’s harvest time for corn farmers comes during the week of commemorating the first anniversary of the Mamasapano fighting. Erstwhile areas of conflict has turned to productive use, including the clash sites, he says.

Farmers used to harvest 3,800 tons of corn grains from the two encounter sites, according to municipal agriculture officer Modrika Masukat. This time, he says, the harvest would only be about one-seventh of the usual volume, blaming rat attacks.

In Sitio Inogog, where Marwan was killed, only 1.5 hectares of cornfield will be harvested, he added.

Livelihood aid

Tukanalipao village Chair Esmael Hasim says the wounded and fatalities among civilians have been accounted for by relatives and authorities, and were given assistance. Livelihood packages were extended to them by Mayor Ampatuan, through the municipal social welfare and development office, he says.

The office of Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) also provided tricycles and small tractors with trailers.

The victims’s relatives also received cash assistance in tranches from the ARMM’s Humanitarian Emergency Action Response Team from its director, Ramil Masukat, and staff member Myrna Jo Henry, Hasim says.

Norham Dagadas, who coordinated with the MILF leadership, says families of the rebel fatalities also received cash from the group’s central committee in Camp Darapanan, Maguindanao province.

Affected farmers received 400 bags of corn seeds from the ARMM Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, through the municipal agriculture office.

But Hasim says there had been no replacement yet for farmers who lost nine work animals—five carabaos and four cows—who were hit by stray bullets when these were left unattended following the sudden evacuation of residents.

Slow farm recovery

It was a nightmare for residents of Mamasapano, basically an agriculture-based town, but
Masukat says the farmers are slowly recovering from that tragedy.

Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, commanding general of the 6th Infantry Division, says the situation has been back to normal since the military’s all-out pursuit of Moro guerrillas involved in the carnage took off here and in the Maguindanao towns of Datu Salibo, Datu Saudi-Ampatuan, Shariff Saydona Mustapha and Datu Piang.

Pangilinan says the Army, through its engineering battalions, has partnered with the PNP and civilian agencies in implementing infrastructure projects, such as barangay roads and school buildings in remote areas, including those in Mamasapano and in neighboring areas.

In deference to the families of the dead, officials and residents have agreed to moderate celebrations of the town’s gains, Mayor Ampatuan says, following the consensus reached during Mamasapano’s 17th founding anniversary on Oct. 31.