SAKSI Who will get the bounty?

That unidentified habal-habal driver was the key to the encounter that led to the death of Melloria and three of his cohorts. Will he then receive P4 million as reward?

If it wasn’t for the habal- habal driver who told authorities about his “suspicious” passenger who looked haggard and untidy and smelled, the remaining members of the Abu Sayyaf Group ( ASG) who engaged government troops in a gun battle in Barangay Napo, Inabanga, Bohol almost two weeks ago would not have been located.

The habal- habal driver said he was hired by the man to buy bread at the town proper. The man spoke a non- Bol- anon language with an intonation.

With his revelation, government troops came against the remaining members of the ASG in Sitio Lagsing, Barangay Bacani in Clarin last Saturday afternoon. The encounter, which lasted until nighttime, resulted in the deaths of four bandits, including the group’s Boholono guide and member Joselito Melloria. News photographers only took pictures of the dead body of Melloria. The other three fatalities were not presented, as of yesterday, even on the social media. Authorities claimed they immediately buried the remains of the ASG members, according to Muslim tradition.

The non- documentation of the three other fatalities raised “suspicion” about the authorities’ claim. Were they sure that those three other fatalities were really ASG members and not innocent civilians caught in the crossfire? In the Inabanga encounter, authorities claimed that there were five Abus killed. But it turned out there were only three. The two others were an elderly couple. Our military and police authorities did not even rectify and explain that erroneous report and the circumstances behind the couple’s death.

The eight remnants of the ASG were not completely flushed out during the Clarin encounter, which took place 10 days after the Inabanga firefight. Was there another failure of intelligence gathering and monitoring on the part of our police and military as they failed to monitor the group’s movements in the hinterlands of Inabanga and Clarin and other adjacent towns?

There was a possibility that the surviving ASG members divided themselves into two groups. The group headed by Melloria reportedly hid in a cave in Barangay Bacani.

I am not familiar with the place but how big is the hinterland between Inabanga and Clarin that the armed group was not detected? I also doubt that they terrorized residents in the area to make sure their presence was not reported to authorities. I’m sure residents have no sympathy for the group as they are not natives of the place. So where are the remaining four members? Were they able to slip out of Bohol or are they still there after separating from Melloria’s group. Maybe they are still there or maybe not. These are all speculations. They could be in Olango Island as claimed by a resident who saw two armed persons in the mangrove area of Barangay San Vicente last Thursday.

During his recent visit in Bohol, President Rodrigo Duterte offered a bounty of P1 million for each of the eight ASG members.

That unidentified habal- habal driver was the key to the encounter that led to the death of Melloria and three of his cohorts.

Will he then receive P4 million as reward? Upat may napatay, di P4 million gyud. Police and military personnel are not qualified to receive any reward from the government as it is their duty to go after lawless elements. Kon madawat to sa driver, gikan sa habal- habal, mag- Uber o mag- Grab na to siya.

BOBBY NALZARO bobby@sunstar.com.ph