Land dispute eyed in vice mayor, aide’s slay

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Local officials in South Upi town in Maguindanao del Sur have expressed belief that a land dispute was the motive for the murder of their vice mayor and his aide last week.

Vice Mayor Roldan Benito reportedly resisted heavily armed outsiders from grabbing Teduray ancestral lands in the municipality.

Benito and his security aide, Weng Marcos, were killed in an ambush in Barangay Pandan last Friday. The fatalities reportedly belonged to a Teduray tribe, whose ancestral domain in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is recognized by the government.

Mayor Reynalbert Insular and tribal chief Letecio Datuwata told journalists that Benito was killed for leading his constituents in resisting groups claiming ownership of vast swaths of lands in their ancestral domain.

“He was a brave Teduray leader. We do not see any political angle in the ambush,” Datuwata said.