Residents flee Sarangani village due to presence of armed group

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 3): Residents flee Sarangani village due to presence of armed group

Residents of a remote village in Sarangani Province have fled anew their homes due to reported harassments in the last three days by an armed group that had been claiming some parts of the area as part of their ancestral domain.

Capt. William Rodriguez, spokesman of the Army’s 1002nd Brigade, said Wednesday an undetermined number of armed men occupied on Monday a portion of Barangay Tunadatu, Maitum town in Sarangani, forcing local resident to evacuate.

“The armed group had been claiming ownership and wanted to assume the lands in the area,” he said in a radio interview.

He said they are still determining the exact number of the evacuees, who are currently taking temporary shelter in Barangay Ticulab in Maitum.

The local government of Maitum has initially provided relief assistance to the affected residents, who were also forced to evacuate last year due to a series of harassment incidents launched by the land claimants.

Rodriguez said they have scheduled a dialogue with the Philippine National Police, National Commission on Indigenous People and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to resolve the situation in the area.

In August last year, around 500 residents of Tuanadatu were forced to leave the area due to the presence of an armed group led by Salim Datu Binago, Kumander Akmad Biao and Kumander Udtop Talumpak.

The group was initially tagged as behind the attack that killed Tuanadatu councilman Freddie Macatin, his wife, and brother.

Fresh attacks were launched two months later by armed men reportedly led by Datu Ingig and Udtug Talumpa that prompted the evacuation of 40 families comprising 127 people from Sitio Napilay of Barangay Tuanadatu.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=540607