ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 19, 2012) – Violence continues to grip this southern Philippine port city as gun attacks largely blamed to clan war and hired killers remain the biggest threat to personal security.
Just over the weekend, two people were killed in two separate attacks in Zamboanga – one a former village chieftain and the other was the son of a village councilor.
Police said a gunman shot Harun Dimarunsing outside a mosque in Santa Barbara – a village named after a Catholic saint – in a daring attack. The gunman was shot and wounded by pursuing policemen while trying to escape.
Dimarunsing was rushed to hospital, but he did not there alive. The motive of the attack is still unknown, but family feud or clan war is likely the reason behind the killing, police said.
An unidentified gunman also killed Al-jamar Rashid, the 24-year old son of Santa Catalina village councilor Baharain Rashid. The motive of the shooting is still unclear, but police are also investigating whether the killing is connected to family feud.
Gun attacks are not uncommon in Zamboanga and dozens of people had been shot and killed in the past months and most of the cases remain unsolved.
And every time killings occur, police authorities and government were quick to blame the proliferation of unlicensed or illegal weapons in the hands of civilians, but the string of murders were largely carried out by hired killers who are actively operating in Zamboanga. Among those who were killed in the past were doctors, lawyers, traders, journalists and civilians.
The unabated killings are on top of threats of terrorism and kidnappings in Zamboanga and despite these, the local police remain without its own security cameras, although big establishments and banks have put up their own surveillance televisions.
Some councilors have repeatedly appealed to the local government to put up an electronic security television system where authorities could monitor the city streets, but had been turned down many times, saying security cameras cannot prevent crimes. (Mindanao Examiner)
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