AFP: Father of air strike victims an MILF rebel

COTABATAO CITY – The father of the three children, who were killed in a military air strike in Datu Piang, Maguindanao last Sept. 8, was himself a Moro guerrilla who, together with his companions, opened fire at planes that hovered above them, thus provoking the pilots to return fire, an Armed Forces spokesman said.

The MILF fighter, Dayah Mandi, and his pregnant 18-year-old daughter were also killed in the incident.

Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said Mandi’s relatives and residents of Barangay Tee where the incident happened confirmed that Mandi was indeed a guerrilla who belonged to the group led by renegade MILF Commander Ameril Ombra Kato.

“They did not think of the safety of the children who were with them when they shot the plane flying above them with assault rifles,” Ando said.

Ando said the soldiers would not have fired if they were not provoked.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Alexander Yano earlier had exonerated the soldiers involved in the incident, saying they followed the rules of engagement.

The slain children, according to Yano, were with the MILF rebels on board bancas.