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KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews / 25 Aug) – Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco has ordered a thorough probe of the brutal slay of an indigenous peoples (IP) leader in Magpet town on Monday.
Catamco, in a statement, said that no one should take one’s life, much more a woman IP leader whose task was to help improve the lives of other tribes people.
Major Jujie Barotas, chief of Magpet municipal police station, identified the victim as Bae Milda Ansabo of Sitio Tagaytay, Barangay Mahongkog.
Barotas said Ansabo was first hacked by a still unidentified suspect before she was shot to death while on her way home.
Ansabo, as an IP leader, used to cooperate with the local government unit (LGU) in Magpet and worked with the Army and PNP in their quest for peace in the area.
The IP leader’s killing came more than a week after authorities in Magpet arrested a 61-year-old grandmother said to have links with the New Peoples’ Army (NPA). She was slapped with charges of illegal possession of explosives and ammunition.
Meantime, Cotabato Provincial IP coordinator Leah Labrador told investigators that Ansabo was also active in her fight against illegal logging in her village.
Barotas, however, has yet to determine if these cases were related. (Malu Cadelina Manar / MindaNews)
