SULU – Gunmen shot dead an employee of the Sulu Integrated Provincial Health Office in the town of Jolo at a time government leaders were working hard to promote peace and tourism in the Muslim province.
The 38-year old Edmiraldo Suliano was killed while driving home on a motorcycle in San Raymundo village late Thursday. The attackers also drove off with Suliano’s motorcycle and disappeared in the dark.
No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the murder and police were investigating the attack. It was unknown why the police and military failed to prevent the attack or strictly guard the capital town despite the extended imposition of martial law in the entire southern Philippines.
Military and police authorities have miserably failed to impose tight security not only in Jolo, but elsewhere in the province, including Patikul town where the Capitol Building is located.
Abu Sayyaf militants had previously attacked Jolo and kidnapped innocent civilians despite the presence of military and police camps in the town. Even the town’s police headquarters are not safe anymore and also attacked in the past.
Police and military checkpoints and patrol were also limited in many towns and by nightfall there is hardly any soldiers and policemen guarding vital government installations in Jolo and nearby areas.
Governor Toto Tan has repeatedly rallied his mayors to work hard in protecting their communities and at the same time working hard to lure investors to put up business in Sulu, one of 5 provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.
Sulu Governor Toto Tan discusses security matter with military and health officials in the province in this photos from the provincial government.
Just last week, Tan met with Army Colonel Santiago Enginco, commander of the Metro Jolo Inter-Agency Task Group, and Doctor Farah Omar, of the Sulu Integrated Provincial Health Office, and discussed the security situation in Jolo town. He also met separately with Army Major Aunor Balansi and Master Sergeant Anthony Abellera, of the 5th Scout Ranger Battalion.
Tan ordered authorities to impose a tighter security in the town and for the military to help police in maintaining peace and order in the province.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government has removed last year the supervision of the local executives over the police, which relied heavily on the support of local governments in their campaign against criminality. (Mindanao Examiner)
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