SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao --- The presence or penetration of an
unidentified group at Barangay Dalumangcob in this town last October 31 was but
merely construed or suspected by some residents to be ISIS-inspired lawless
elements that caused panic and then the evacuation of some of these
constituents.
“Fake
News! Such notion or report is fake news,” said Sultan Kudarat Mayor Datu
Shameem Biruar Mastura in the joint meeting of the Municipal Peace and Order
Council and Municipal Anti-Drug Abuse Council last November 4 held at the
Conference Room of the Municipal Hall building with the presence of top
security officials who assured the constituents here and in Cotabato City
“could sleep well at night.”
Upon
verification of verbal reports and those sent through the social media, Mayor
Shameem Mastura said there were certain individuals, who are mere farmers, who
passed through that day in Barangay Dalumangcob only to source out some food
--- fish and birds --- for their respective families, but construed or merely
assumed by frightened residents thereat as lawless elements, causing a
“fearsome” climate that compelled a number of families to flee their homes.
According
to accounts, a frightened individual sent a text message to her sister about
the presence of ISIS and then the story spread to the fright of a number of
residents in that barangay. The story run through the social media.
He
said the barangay chairman testified and confirmed that the ISIS (Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria) visibility is “not true.”
Philippine
Marine Deputy Brigade commander Col. Eric A. Macaambac and Maj. Ryan F.
Lacuesta, commanding officer of the Marine Battalion Landing Team-2, said the
purported presence of ISIS in the area is “not really true,” emphasizing that
their area of responsibility is “totally peaceful”, adding: “We are conducting
foot patrol even at night to dislodge criminals and notorious groups.”
Maguindanao
Provincial Police Director Col. Atty. Arnold Santiago and Municipal Police
chief Maj. Julhamin Asdani also said the area, particularly Barangay
Dalumangcob, is “definitely negative” of ISIS entry.
“We
have searched and cleared the reported area… and the issue regarding the
visibility of an ISIS-inspired group in this town is not true and we consider
the report or allegation as fake news,” the two police officials noted.
Upon
learning of the reported or alleged sighting of ISIS elements, the mayor said
they initiated an investigation together with local government and security
officials and “we found nothing of that sort of information… “There is no ISIS
to be found in the area. All of these are considered fake news.”
He further
said their locality serves as a blocking area and a buffer against the entry of
lawless groups into other communities such as the towns of Sultan Mastura and
Datu Odin Sinsuat as well as Cotabato City.
“And
with the stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in our
municipality, it is impossible for this ISIS group to enter and ruin this
developed, progressive, and peaceful community,” Mayor Datu Shameem Mastura
stressed.
One
MILF enclave is located at Barangay Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat town.
In
witnessing and testifying and to allay fears of destabilization, the mayor
stated: “We, in this locality, strongly deny the accusations of the presence of
ISIS or lawless elements in our municipality.”
Such
misinformation and distortive reporting likewise cause apprehension and alarm
among some residents in Cotabato City that alerted also security forces,
placing themselves on heightened alert. (Anne Acosta)
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