5 dead, 500 families displaced in Maguindanao clashes

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao — Running gunbattles between soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels erupted yesterday in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, leaving a soldier and four MILF guerrillas dead and forcing more than 500 families to evacuate to safer grounds.

Lt. Col. Franklin Del Prado, civil-military relations officer of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, identified the slain soldier as Sgt. Philip Pedregosa of the 37th Infantry Battalion.

Del Prado, citing initial reports from their units in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, said Pedregoza and his companions, some of whom are members of a local militia, were on their way to Barangay Dapiawan in the same town to investigate the reported killing of two civilians by still unidentified gunmen when a group of MILF rebels, whom local residents identified as members of the front’s 109th Base Command, reportedly blocked their path, provoking a two-hour running gunbattle.

Local officials said four MILF rebels were killed while four others were wounded in the ensuing firefight.

Del Prado said the rebels also opened fire on responding soldiers, forcing a nearby Army artillery firebase to pound them with 105 Howitzer canons.

Tahir Sulaik, chief of Maguindanao’s Integrated Provincial Health Office, said relief workers dispatched to the area reported that a still unidentified villager was also wounded in the crossfire.

"All of the villages in Dapiawan and surrounding areas were abandoned by beleaguered residents as of 3 pm yesterday. The situation is still very tense and seemed volatile," Sulaik said.

Sources from the provincial peace and order council said the tension in Datu Saudi Ampatuan worsened at about noontime when civilians saw rebel reinforcements coming from nearby towns.