Shooting puts N Cotabato under security alert

ZAMBOANGA CITY– Government troops on Saturday tightened security in North Cotabato after a town mayor was linked to the killing of five people while the town’s police officers reportedly tried to cover up the incident. Soldiers were sent to Banisilan town where Mayor Floro Allado and his bodyguards reportedly shot a group of people on Thursday. Members of the town’s police force were earlier dismissed after reportedly trying to cover up the crime by reporting that Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels were behind the attack. "We have troops in the area. We don't want any future hostilities breaking out between feuding groups," Brig. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, commander of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, told the GMA News.TV by phone from Cotabato. North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Pinol already ordered the regional police force to arrest Allado. A military report earlier said unidentified gunmen attacked people near the Banisilan municipal hall. The assailants turned out to be bodyguards of the mayor. "There is an investigation going on about the motive of the attacks, but we suspect it had something to do with local politics and a family feud," Pajarito said. The MILF, the largest rebel group fighting for independence in Mindanao, denied involvement in the attack. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the attack was connected to a family feud. "We have reports saying that the attack was connected to a family feud and had something to do also with local politics," Kabalu said. - Al Jacinto, GMANews.TV