SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao -- The mayor of this town has offered a Php50, 000 bounty for the immediate identification, arrest and prosecution of those behind the Nov. 9 burning attempt of a Catholic chapel here.
Shariff Aguak Mayor Marop Ampatuan said he offered the amount for any information that would lead to the arrest of perpetrators who vandalized and torched religious articles and statues of San Isidro Labrador chapel in Barangay Labo-Labo here.
Ampatuan condemned the attack, describing it as un-Islamic and an uncivilized act of lawless elements.
His Eminence Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, Mindanao’s first and only cardinal and head of archdiocese of Cotabato, also condemned the attack and urged local leaders and peace partners to help bring the culprits behind bars.
Quevedo said he was bothered by the incident, the third in Mindanao since May this year. On May 23, extremist Abu Sayyaf Group and Maute terrorist organization destroyed religious images and burned the Catholic cathedral in Marawi City.
In July, ISIS-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters destroyed images and religious articles of a chapel in Barangay Malagakit, Pigcawayan, North Cotabato.
No one had claimed responsibility for the burning at 9 p.m. on Nov. 9 of the San Isidro Labrador chape, but authorities had their eyes fixed on the ISIS-inspired faction of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIIFF) under Commander Toraife operating in the peripheries of Maguindanao and North Cotabato provinces.
According to Quevedo, the destruction of the statues was “gravely disrespectful” of Catholic beliefs.
“Such a crime is most disturbing and provocative,” he said in a statement.
Despite the attempt, the cardinal urged Catholic faithful not to destroy the solidarity of Muslims and Christians in Maguindanao that he and the peace advocates have been promoting for the past two decades.
Senior Supt. Agustin Tello, Maguindanao town police director, said local officials had sought the help of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in identifying the attackers.
Police investigators are currently looking at two possible motive of the attack. Tello said for one, there appears to be parties fighting over ownership of the land where the chapel is located.
“We are also looking at possibility the extremists in Maguindanao were involved,” he told reporters, adding a third party could have been involved to foment animosity among majority Muslims and minority Christians in Shariff Aguak.
Quevedo has urged the public, government officials, and the archdiocesan partners in the Bangsamoro peace process to help the security forces in bringing the perpetrators to justice. He also called on religious leaders to condemn such abuses and “prevent religious bigotry, hostility and conflict”. (PNA)
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Topic: Reward up for Maguindanao chapel arsonists (Read 264 times)