COTABATO CITY – Two more members of the indigenous Teduray-Lambangian tribe were killed in an ambush in a Maguindanao del Sur upland town on Thursday noon, Dec. 19, a tribal leader said Thursday.

The attack came 11 days after gunmen killed a tribal leader and former village councilman in Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao del Sur.

Leticio Datuwata, supreme leader of the tribe’s Timuay Justice and Governance (TJG), identified the fatalities as Cita Angan, 39 and Ricky Tapioc, both members of Teduray-Lambangin tribe belonging to the Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (NMIPs) of Maguidnanao del Sur.

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Wounded were Kutang Tilok, another IP member, and Saber Zacaria, a Maguindanaon and driver of ‘habal-habal’ (motorcycle taxi) hired by Angan, Tapioc and Tilok to bring them to Barangay Mantao, Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao del Sur.

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Datuwata said they were heading for home with relief goods distributed by the Ministry of Social Services and Development in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MSSD-BARMM) when ambushed at about 1 p.m. in Sito Eskagit, Barangay Mantao, Datu Hoffer town.

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He said Cita Angan is the wife of Baywan Angan, 40, a prominent leader of the Lambangian tribe, who was killed on Dec. 8 while fishing in the Riyumgan river with his wife and children when three armed men from the same village arrived.

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Later in the afternoon, Cita heard gunshots emanating from the Riyumgan river and found later that the three men shot her husband.

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Mrs. Angan and Tapioc were the 84th and 85th victims of killings that the TJG had documented since 2018, the year when Congress approved the Bangsamoro Organic Law that paved for the creation of the Bangsamoro region.

According to Datuwata, Mrs. Angan went to Datu Hoffer town center on Dec. 18, Wednesday, to receive aid from MSSD.

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“She failed to bring home the relief goods on Wednesday so she returned today (Thursday) to fetch other relief goods and was returning home when attacked,” Datuwata said even as he condemned the incident.

“We, the IPs, are no longer just vulnerable to harassment, we are now the target of attacks and this is becoming very dangerous,” Datuwata told the Inquirer.

He called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to put an end to the cycle of attacks against NMIPs in BARMM.

Edward Intang Abelardo, an IP from Upi, Maguindanao del Norte, also condemned the attack.

“Cita had been the sole witness who identified the armed men responsible for her husband’s murder. Despite her critical role in seeking justice, the state failed to provide her adequate protection, leaving her vulnerable to the same perpetrators,” Abelardo said in his Facebook page.

“This tragic incident is a sample of the systemic violence and targeted killings that continue to threaten the lives of Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (NMIPs) in the region,” he added.

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The killing of Angan on Dec. 8 remained unsolved and police have not identified nor filed charges against the perpetrators.55bmw

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