Palace slams BARMM chief attack

MALACAÑANG on Sunday said President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has directed government agencies to strengthen security in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and investigate the reported attack on Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof A. Macacua and his companions.

“The President has ordered all relevant government agencies to further intensify security in Bangsamoro communities and to conduct a thorough investigation to identify and hold accountable those behind this attack,” Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro told reporters via a Viber group chat in Filipino.

Mr. Macacua said in a statement issued over the weekend that his convoy was ambushed on Saturday in Barangay Bitu, Datu Odin Sinsuat, while returning from a public engagement in Barangay Gambar, Kabuntalan. He said he and his companions were unharmed.

The incident comes as the BARMM prepares for its first regular parliamentary elections in September, which are expected to mark the transition from the interim Bangsamoro Transition Authority to an elected regional government.

“The President condemns the violence committed against BARMM Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua and his companions,” Ms. Castro said.

“He assures that this will not weaken the government’s resolve for the BARMM communities to have a proper transition or transformation toward democratic governance,” she added.

Meanwhile, the police and military in the region are cooperating in identifying the gunmen who shot the convoy of Mr. Macacua with assault rifles on Saturday afternoon.

No one was hurt in the incident, but the gunshot that reverberated through the area caused panic among villagers in farming enclaves around.

The gunshots hit three vehicles in Mr. Macacua’s convoy, including the bulletproof Toyota Land Cruiser he was riding.

Ethnic Villagers in Barangay Bitu told reporters on Sunday that the gunmen immediately escaped towards a hinterland along the highway from where they opened fire as the convoy passed through. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking and John Felix M. Unson