Cops remain clueless on motive of burning of Marwan's house

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 26): Cops remain clueless on motive of burning of Marwan's house

MAMASAPANO, Maguindanao -- The police authorities here have remained clueless on the motive of Tuesday night's burning of the hut of slain Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan in the village of Pidsandawan here.

Inspector Reggie Abellera, Mamasapano police chief, said local officials and community elders of nearby villages of Tukanalipao, Pimbalakan, Pidsadawan and Inog-og could not say who did it and for what purpose.

The area, since Marwan was killed on January 25, had been deserted with only birds and stray animals loitering around what appeared to be an island group of houses in the middle of an idle rice field.

Even the house of Filipino bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman, Marwan's lieutenant located a kilometer away and looked like the house of slain Malaysian terrorist was also deserted by its neighbors.

“We still continue to gather information, the residents appeared to be afraid to say anything lest the suspects get back at them," Abellera said.

He said local officials or policemen assigned in Mamasapano fear coming closer as sniper shots will be heard when lawmen attempt to visit the area.

Marwan was only known as "Madz" in the village of Pidsandawan and even local officials claimed they did not know he was a Malaysian because he spoke the Maguindanao dialect fluently.

Director Benjamin Magalong, chief of the PNP Board of Inquiry, who visited Barangay Tukanalipao, did not dare to visit Marwan's torched home, saying "it was immaterial to the board of inquiry."

"We only have fire scene photos, we cannot penetrate the area because of armed men," he said. The village is a known bailiwick of outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Three homes made of light materials turned to ashes except for the small mosque nearby in Tuesday night's incident.

While the spot where the house of Marwan was located is now inhabited, people fear to come closer into it.

In fact a village adjacent to Marwan's house had been deserted.

The BIFF, which clashed with the elite police commando on January 25, came from the village of Dasikil where BIFF leader Uztadz Tambako operates.

At night, sporadic gun shots were heard near the house of Marwan and believed to be the works of BIFF bandits, police said, quoting villagers.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=739369