Dredging project resumes after Moro rebel attacks

COTABATO CITY—Army bomb experts have cleared the construction site for a dredging facility under a flood-control project in Datu Salibo town in Maguindanao province, prompting the resumption of work activities there over the weekend.

The project was earlier halted due to harassment by Moro rebels belonging to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

Lt. Col. Warlito Limet, commander of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion, said the search for booby traps still continued in other areas, but the dredging site in the villages of Butalo and Tee in Datu Salibo had been cleared of bombs that might have left by the rebels.

On Friday, a backhoe and dump trucks entered Butalo.

Datu Salibo Mayor Norodin Salasal said the P58-million dredging project being implemented by the national government was to start in December but was delayed by road right-of-way (ROW) claims by residents.

“I have talked to all the lot owners where the project was to be built and the government have paid them,” Salasal told reporters.

After the ROW claims were settled, the project commenced on Feb. 5, but the BIFF burned two backhoes, triggering a firefight between them and government forces.

“We torched the equipment because the contractor did not coordinate with us, and because the road right-of-way claim was not settled,” Abu Misri Mama, BIFF spokesperson, told the Inquirer by phone.

Mayor Salasal denied Mama’s claim. “All claims have been settled,” he said.

Limet said the project would benefit the people once it is completed. “We cannot understand why the BIFF is opposed to it,” he told reporters.

On Feb. 5, the military, with the backing of two MG-520 attack helicopters, launched offensives to drive away about 100 heavily armed BIFF men.

The monthlong offensives claimed the lives of four soldiers and wounded about 30 others. Four civilians, including the municipal treasurer of Datu Salibo, were killed when the BIFF set off a roadside bomb.

Military officials could not say how many BIFF members were killed or wounded. Civilians in Datu Salibo claimed about 40 BIFF fighters were killed and 20 others wounded.

“We cannot confirm that, we have no body count, but for sure they have casualties,” Capt. Joann Petinglay, Army regional Army spokesperson, told the Inquirer.

On Thursday, the decomposing body of a man, believed to be a BIFF fighter based on his fatigue uniform with a BIFF logo, was found in the village of Tee.  Edwin O. Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao