North Cotabato governor appeals for cooperation to resolve Pikit shootings

DAVAO CITY – North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou “Lala” Taliño-Mendoza has appealed to her constituents in Pikit to cooperate with the government to resolve the spate of shooting incidents in the municipality.

Mendoza aired the plea following the series of shooting incidents that reportedly created an atmosphere of fear among local populace for several weeks.

In some barangays, residents fled to safer grounds due to fear of being caught in the crossfire or escalation of conflict between armed groups.

Reports showed that most of the shootings incidents were reportedly due to “rido” or clan wars.

“Peace and security is everybody’s concern. It is a collective effort by law enforcement agencies, local government units, local peacekeeping forces, and the community in general,” Mendoza said.

“The sooner that we all step up and consciously put in our best effort to help authorities, the sooner that we see our situation go back to normalcy and we can all feel safe again.”

She urged the people in Pikit to unite and fight for peace together. “They should cooperate and be courageous enough in reporting or complaining about anomalous activities or suspicious individuals to our law enforcers.”

Most of the shooting incidents took place in barangays under the Special Geographic Area (SGA) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), according to Pikit Mayor Sumulong Sultan.

Twenty of 42 barangays of Pikit are now part of the SGA-BARMM after voting “yes” following a plebiscite in February 2019.

Sultan said BARMM officials have already stepped in to help address the issue in the municipality.