KIDAPAWAN CITY – Five men, among them the son of a former governor of Maguindanao, were killed in an alleged shootout with soldiers manning a road checkpoint in Pikit, North Cotabato Friday night.
Reported killed was Datu Hashim Matalam III, son of the late former Maguindanao Gov. Norodin Matalam. The identities of his slain companions were still being verified by authorities as of press time.
All five fatalities were aboard a sports utility vehicle and were travelling towards Pagalungan in Maguindanao when they were flagged down by soldiers of the Army’s Seventh Infantry Battalion in a checkpoint in Barangay Inug-ug in Pikit at around 8:40 p.m.
But instead of stopping, the car sped away as one or two of the passengers allegedly opened fire at the soldiers manning the checkpoint.
This reportedly forced the soldiers to fire back, killing all the victims on-the-spot, said a military report corroborated by Pikit police chief Police Capt. Mautin Pangandigan.
Pikit municipal administrator Dr. Maugan Mosaid broke the news on the incident past 9 p.m. Friday via Facebook, saying a firefight happened in Barangay Inug-ug, a village noted for bloody armed clashes that has already left dozens of protagonists in recent months.
Pangandigan said responding Scene-of-the-Crime Operatives recovered three assorted pistols and ammunition, a fragmentation grenade, a riffle grenade, three pieces of sealed plastic sachet containing suspected shabu or crystal meth, and P15,900 cash.
In a separate report, Brig. Gen. Alfredo Rosario of the Army 602nd Brigade said soldiers manning the checkpoint faced “extreme provocation” that forced them to fire back correspondingly.
Initial field military and police reports indicated that Matalam, who was said to be driving the SUV, tried to elude the checkpoint due to the reported presence of illegal drugs and Mamalumpong, who escaped a year ago from the provincial jail due to alleged illegal drug trade offense.
Residents said Matalam inherited the car from his late father, Norodin, who died four years ago.
Authorities said soldiers from the 7th Infantry Battalion have been on high alert Thursday following a spate of clashes between two rival partisan Moro groups in Barangay Inug-ug, a village bordering Pikit and the Liguasan Marsh. (Ali Macabalang)