16 killed in Marine-police ‘misencounter’ in Sulu

JOLO, Sulu — An accidental firefight between Philippine Marines and local police here at the height of a peace rally calling for the return of a rebel leader left 16 people dead yesterday, officials said.

The firefight occurred at 5:30 p.m. in Jolo town proper right in front of the municipal hall, Maj. Gen. Glicerio Sua, Western Mindanao military commander and Task Force Comet head, said.

Sua said the dead consisted of nine Marines, three policemen, one Army integree, and three civilians. He said six civilians and two integrees were reported wounded. The identities of the dead and wounded were not immediately available.

Military Southern Command official Col. Roland Detabali said the "misencounter" occurred when police opened fire on Marine soldiers responding to a civil disturbance call in downtown Jolo.

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Jose Mabanta said the troops from Marine headquarters in nearby Barangay Busbos were sent to quell a riot that broke out during a rally of dozens of civilian supporters of detained Muslim leader Nur Misuari.

The free-for-all was triggered when a Marine officer in civilian clothes was accosted by police for carrying a grenade and then severely beaten.

When Marines went to Jolo town to "rescue and pacify" the parties, the clash erupted "sending the rallyists scampering in different directions," General Sua said.

The peace rally began at 4 p.m. near the town hall, with demonstrators calling for the return of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Misuari, currently detained in a jail at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Sua said, however, that things were under control.

"The tension has been defused. I have directed military commander Col. Romeo Tolentino to dig deeper into the incident with the police provincial director," he said. — With Paolo Romero