Were local officials involved in Marawi ambush?

MANILA, Philippines – Mujiv Hataman, acting governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said Thursday, August 9, he plans to convene a Peace and Order Council meeting over the ambush that killed 3 soldiers and a child at the Mindanao State University (MSU).

Army officers said that the ambush was led by members of a criminal syndicate allegedly associated with Marawi City Mayor Fahad Salic.

Hataman said he will invite Salic to the meeting. The mayor must address these allegations, he told Rappler.

A joint police-military probe is also underway.

“Kung kamag-anak niya iyon, may control ba siya doon? Kahit kamag-anak niya, dapat tugisin din niya ang mga ito,” Hataman said in a phone interview, referring to Salic. (If the gang members are his relatives, does he have control over them? Even if they are his relatives, he should still go after these people.)

In an earlier interview with ANC, the ABS-CBN News Channel, on Thursday, Salic said police have yet to identify the motive and suspects behind the attack.

“Sa ngayon po, wala pa, hindi pa natin matukoy kung bakit, bakit nangyari ang nangyari kagabi,” Salic said. (As of now, there’s still none, we still can’t say why the incident last night happened.)

Speaking to the Agence France-Presse, Col Daniel Lucero, commander of the Army’s 103rd infantry brigade, said that the soldiers were aboard a military truck on routine security patrol in Marawi when they were attacked. He said the ambush triggered a 30-minute gunbattle.

“It was a treacherous and unprovoked attack, and I have ordered pursuit operations against the attackers,” Lucero told the AFP.

Salic happens to be the husband of actress and reported 2013 senatorial aspirant Alma Moreno.

Why were soldiers in MSU?

The ambush has prompted criticism that the Army’s presence in MSU made the campus vulnerable to attack. (Read a related story on this here.)

Hataman said the soldiers were just patrolling the area as part of a joint effort between the police and the military to secure MSU from the drug and kidnapping syndicate.

“Naging drug haven na kasi ang MSU. Malaking area kasi iyan. May communities diyan so kailangan itong joint effort to secure the area.” (MSU has become a drug haven. It’s a big area. There are communities there so we need a joint effort to secure it.)

Hataman said MSU officials also requested for security after students were threatened by their landlords during the voters’ registration last month. The governor said the landlords pressured the students to register even if they are not from Lanao del Sur.

Hataman added that the military was just intended to “reinforce” the efforts of the police.

“It’s a joint effort of the police and military. The army is just supporting, maybe the police cannot do it alone,” Hataman said in Filipino.

Retaliatory trap?

The governor said he believed the ambush was meant as a “trap” for the soldiers who were responding to indiscriminate shots in MSU.

Hataman, quoting military reports, said the syndicate was also retaliating for the death of its leader, a certain Gamal Anwar, who was killed by soldiers in a checkpoint on July 15.

“Kung may basbas ni mayor, iyan ang pinaiimbestigahan natin,” Hataman added. (Whether the syndicate acts upon the blessings of the mayor, that’s what we are investigating.) – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com