GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Police authorities in Sarangani province has confirmed the presence of several armed groups, believed to have fled from Basilan, in at least two barangays in Kiamba town.
Senior Superintendent Efren Saliganan, Sarangani provincial police director, said he received reports from the field that some 30 armed men arrived last week in Kiamba town.
“They (armed groups) landed in the coastline of Barangays Datu Dani and Nalus using motorized pump boats and were met by their local contacts in the area,” Saliganan told The STAR.
Saliganan said Inspector James Chavez, the town’s police chief, informed him that on July 15 some 10 armed men, led by a certain Commander Raham Salig, landed in Barangay Datu Dani, a known lair of the Abu Sayyaf group in the past.
Five days later, another 20 armed men led by a certain Commander Ombra Kato reportedly arrived in nearby Barangay Nalus aboard two motorized pump boats.
Saliganan, however, admitted that the armed men did not stay long in the area as local leaders and Muslim elders asked them to leave the area to avoid any clash with government troops.
“We are very glad that we have concerned leaders in the area who were able to convince the armed group to leave their place,” said Saliganan.
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) said though that government authorities should not be over confident on the report and advised them to double check the facts before declaring the area cleared.
Ustadz Pendi Colano, chairman of the MNLF Oversight Committee in South Cotabato, Sarangani and General Santos City (Socsargen), said he was suspicious of the information given to the police that the armed group had already left town.
“Maybe the local leaders there are just afraid to tell the truth that the armed men are still hiding in the area because of possible reprisal from the group,” Colano told The STAR.
He said authorities should be able to determine the identities of the armed men and whether they belong to the Abu Sayyaf or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the target now of government forces in Basilan.