Investigate the Killing of Edwin Bandila, We Pray

By: TAHER G. SOLAIMAN

CARMEN, NORTH COTABATO – “Edwin Bandila, 48 years old, of Ugalingan, Carmen, North Cotabato, cultivated one hectare and harvested 35 cavans . . . With Mal-Mar, now he cultivates five hectares and produces 97 cavans per hectare. Mabuhay, Edwin!”

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, thus, in her 2008 State of the Nation Address that she delivered on July 28, 2008, cited the case of Edwin Bandila as an example of how farmers benefited from the Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project (Mal-Mar) in the provinces of North Cotabato and Maguindanao.

Yes, Edwin came from his farm in Barangay Ugalingan and was on his way home to downtown Carmen aboard his motorcycle with his wife when he was shot to death by a lone gunman near the Carmen municipal cemetery at 5:30 p.m. last February 11.

Edwin, together with his wife, Dolores, just passed by – and were, in fact, barely a hundred meters away from – a checkpoint jointly manned by elements of the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army, when the assailant shot him with a .45 caliber pistol hitting him fatally on his shoulder and chest. He was declared dead on arrival at the Kabacan Medical Specialist Hospital in the neighboring Kabacan town.

The gunman fled toward the rubber plantation along the national highway.

Dolores, a teacher-in-charge of the Kibayao Elementary School in the nearby Barangay Kibayao, also in Carmen town, was unharmed.

Until his death, Edwin was the president of the Maridagao River Irrigation System Irrigators Association (Division 6), Inc. based in Barangay Ugalingan.

While the police and the military authorities claimed that “elements of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion and members of the Carmen PNP pursued the assailant along his supposed exit route but they failed to establish contact,” the relatives of the victim maintain that same authorities could have done better considering the proximity of the crime scene to the police and army checkpoint.

Besides, Camp Lucero, the base of the Philippine Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade, is just about 500 meters west of the place where the crime was committed.

Sadly, certain unscrupulous politicians in the province of North Cotabato use the killing of Edwin in attacking their political opponents without the benefit of having conducted first a thorough investigation.

In the interest of fairness and justice, we call on the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate thoroughly the killing of Edwin and prosecute whoever will be found responsible for the dastardly act.

Likewise, we call on those who try to use the killing of Edwin to bolster their own political ambitions to refrain from doing so, lest they can inflict uncalled-for harm to his bereaved family. These politicians should rather help the family attain justice speedily.