CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – Government troops recovered a high-powered firearm at an abandoned house in Barangay Takepan, Pikit, North Cotabato, after villagers reported an indiscriminate firing of guns in the area.
Capt. Arvin John Encinas, Army’s 6th Infantry division spokesperson, said on Thursday that combined forces from the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion and the local police responded to the report. They found an M16 rifle with six magazines and an ammunition bandolier left behind a deserted house in Sitio Gantong, Barangay Takepan.
“Our troops are still conducting an investigation to verify the owner of the house,” Encinas said.
He said government troops were detailed in Barangay Takepan to keep the peace in the community.
Only recently, the town government of Pikit, in coordination with local military and police units, created Task Force Pikit aimed at resolving the series of killings that rocked the locality in the past weeks.
This month alone, at least seven persons were separately killed in a series of ambush incidents believed to have stemmed from land conflicts in the boundaries of Pikit and Aleosan towns.
The affected villages include Ginatilan, Manualanan, Silik, Balong, Bualan, Buliok, Pagangan, Ladtingan, and Lagunde.
Chief Insp. Ronnie Castañares, Pikit police chief, said there are parcels of lands in the area contested by several landed families since 2007, particularly in Sitio Valencia, Pagangan, Pikit, and Sitio Tubac in Aleosan. (Noel Punzalan/PNA)
