Gov. Mangudadatu unaware of clashes in Maguindanao

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 7): Gov. Mangudadatu unaware of clashes in Maguindanao

Despite media reports about the sporadic clashes between warring clans and the recent torching of houses in Datu Montawal town, only some 45 minutes travel north this city, Maguindanao Gov. Ismael "Toto" Mangudadatu admitted he was not informed of the situation in the area. In a text message sent to media here, Mangudadatu said that he has yet to get the information from his provincial police director. "I am sorry but I don't know anything about the harassments in Datu Montawal but I will ask my police director to brief me on the matter," he said in his text message sent to a Catholic-run broadcast network in Kidapawan City.

 On Friday, three houses, some 20 meters away from the police station in Datu Montawal were razed to the ground by still unidentified armed men. But residents led by Datu Abdullah Pandita, resident of Poblacion, Datu Montawal, alleged it was the group of wanted criminal Datu Andy Montawal as behind the harassments in his village. The suspect, younger brother of Datu Montawal Mayor Datu Uttoh Montawal, has long been wanted for murder and rape charges.

The torching of houses in Datu Montawal came a month after a lull in the intermittent exchange of fires between warring clans in the area.  Mangudadatu said he will send police investigators to dig deeper on the issue. One of the motives behind the clashes, reports said, is the intense political rivalry in the area. Residents, however, believed the fighting is beyond politics. "It is the presence of the alleged notorious criminal and his group that is sending the people here into panic. We just don't know why the policemen can't arrest this person and his group despite the fact that they are being kept by influential politicians in the area," Pandita earlier told media here.

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