CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — A Maranao civil society organization joined Lanao del Sur officials in condemning the deaths of the five Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agents during an ambush in a secluded area in Kapai town on Friday.
“Our group strongly [condemns] the killings of PDEA agents in Kapai LDS,” said Drieza Lininding, chairperson of the Moro Consensus Group (MCG) in a statement posted on his Facebook account over the weekend.
However, Lininding warned the incident should not be used by “hawkish” government officials to justify the extension of martial law in Mindanao.
Lininding’s group was organized at the height of the Maute siege of Marawi City last year, and has been critical of the government’s handling of the city’s rehabilitation efforts.
Lanao del Sur Governor Bejoria Soraya Adiong has called on authorities to conduct a thorough investigation on the ambush.
“I call on the Philippine National Police to make a swift and thorough investigation of this incident. I am confident the local government of Kapai, Lanao del Sur will fully cooperate with the PNP to bring justice to the victims and their families,” Adiong said in a statement relayed to the media on Saturday.
The PDEA agents, belonging to the agency’s Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) office, were on their way to Marawi City from Tagoloan II town when they were ambushed in Kapai town. The team had just conducted an anti-drug symposium with former drug dependents there.
Adiong said Lanao del Sur’s provincial health office provided vehicles to retrieve the bodies of the slain agents that brought them to back to Cotabato City on Friday evening.
Adiong said Brig. Gen. Ramiro Rey, commander of the Joint Task Force Ranao, deployed troops to accompany the province’s retrieval team to ensure their safety.
“The provincial government of Lanao del Sur fully condemns this criminal act and we ask the authorities that the perpetrators immediately face the consequences of their action,” the governor added.
PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino also condemned the attack, describing it as an “act of inhumanity and cowardice.”
Aquino advised PDEA and other law enforcement authorities not “travel lightly” when they move around Lanao del Sur, adding that they must first coordinate with local government units in the area and to observe ceasefire mechanism when traveling to far-flung destinations.
In an interview over the weekend, the PDEA chief said at least three drug groups could be behind the ambush. (/PNA)
