DAVAO CITY –– After getting an assurance from the government soldiers and from the Muslim council of elders, residents of Barangay Dugong in Cotabato province have returned home last night May 10.
Mlang police station chief LtCol. Realan Mamon told Newsline that residents of said village fled their homes after about 20 heavily armed men arrived in their community on Tuesday.
A local official said the residents of purok (sub-village) 4, noticed the arrival of the armed men brandishing high powered firearms, a condition which prompted them to flee from their homes along with the residents from Purok 11, 14 and Purok 16, for safety and stayed at the Barangay Gymnasium.
Mamon said the residents slept at the gym but on daytime they return to their homes to attend to the farms and animals.
M’lang Muslim Council of Elders Chairman Akmad Zabel on a social media post claimed the same armed group harassed some residents months ago, but recently returned because they were en route to their homes after the government soldiers trapped them in an operations in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao few days ago.
Mamon said they could not identify the armed groups.
Geographically, the village of Dugong is just a kilometer away from the 220,000-hectare Liguasan delta, which is a known stronghold of the terrorist Dawlah Islamiya and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fight (BIFF).-Editha Z. Caduaya
