North Cotabato villagers return home — reluctantly

COTABATO CITY — Despite uncertainty, villagers displaced in the attack by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) returned to Barangay Malagakit and nearby communities in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato province, on Satuday.

Many of them, with their valuables in tow, were sent back to the villages by the local government.

The displaced, mostly farmers, said they would return and stay in Malagakit at daytime but would move to the town center at night. Males, they agreed, would remain to secure their communities.

But one of them will never go back to Malagakit.

Slain civilian

Gloryjane Cutay, whose husband was killed by the BIFF attackers in front of her and their children, vowed not to return home.

She recalled that her husband, Abraham, had told her to stay inside a rice mill, when the rebels struck on June 22.

Abraham was to become a full-time member of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit by June 30.

Friend refused to shoot

One of the BIFF members was his friend who refused to shoot him despite his superior’s order.

“Finish him (Abraham) or he will finish you in the future,” Gloryjane recalled a senior BIFF man telling her husband’s friend.

Instead, another BIFF member shot Abraham, killing him outright.

“I will move to another place,” she said at the evacuation center in Pigcawayan.

No other options

Anasita de la Cruz, 49, said she and her family and relatives had to return to Malagakit despite uncertainty “because we have no other options.”

With farming as their main livelihood, De la Cruz said they had to go home at their own risk.

“I know the BIFF will return, we just have to be ready all the time.”

On Saturday, De la Cruz joined about 400 families who returned to their home villages.

8 killed

Capt. John Arvin Encinas, speaking for the regional military, said the villages had been cleared of booby traps and secured by an Army detachment.

Six BIFF fighters, a militiaman and a farmer were killed when about 50 armed men attacked a militia outpost in Malagakit last week.

The gunmen also looted some houses and desecrated the San Jose Chapel.