MILF attacks Sultan Kudarat village, wounds five

Fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) show off their weapons in this undated filed photo. MILF rebels attacked a barangay in Sultan Kudarat Wednesday morning allegedly over land and revolutionary tax issues. JEOFFREY MAITEM/INQUIRER MINDANAO FILE

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines — Five persons, including a village chair and a councilman, were wounded when members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) attacked a barangay in Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat province, Wednesday.

The rebels fled when government forces from the Army and the police arrived, said Lutayan Vice Mayor Ibrahim Macasayon.

“Normalcy has been restored,” Macasayon told reporters Wednesday afternoon, citing the intervention of the military and the International Monitoring Team of the government-MILF peace process.
Macasayon said fighting erupted when MILF from the 109th Base Command led by Commander Tige Guiamandin attacked the administration building of Barangay Bayasong at dawn Wednesday.

Villagers led by barangay chair Falcon Bansil fought back and engaged the MILF men in an hour-long gunbattle until soldiers and members of the Lutayan PNP arrived, forcing the rebels to retreat.

Reports say the MILF attack was due to land dispute and territorial conflict. Also, farmers also reportedly refuse to give money to the rebel group.
The Lutayan police office said wounded were Bansil, village councilman Botchoy Galando; Salakib Norodin, and Doren Manunutok, both members of Barangay Police Action Team (BPAT), and an unidentified civilian.

It was not known whether the MILF rebels suffered casualties.

Soldiers and police have been deployed to the village to prevent another attack. Edwin Fernandez / CB