Rumor of impending attack sparks panic in Ipil town

IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay - Residents of this town panicked Wednesday noon after reports that members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were out to attack started to spread. Women and children were seen crying and screaming as they hastily left the poblacion of this town, the capital town of the province. By noontime, the town center was almost empty with people and most shops were closed except for local police personnel and Army troops. “Store owners and sales persons hurriedly closed their shops and were in a hurry to leave the town center at around noon," Tess Dinio, a drugstore in-charge, recounted. It was the second incident of panic recorded the past two days. On Tuesday, residents from two barangays in Iligan City fled to their city hall after two drunks said that the MILF was to attack that night. On Wednesday, the incident was replicated in Ipil but the false message had two versions - that the attack was to staged by the MILF or the Abu Sayyaf. The women were screaming for fear of being caught up in an “attack to the town center by the Abu Sayyaf," Dinio added. “It is still very vivid to us what happened in 1995," she said. Ipil town was pillaged by armed men in 1995 believed to be members of the notorious Abu Sayyaf Group that left more than 50 people dead. All schools, both private and public, near the town center were also closed as parents hurriedly fetched their children before noontime. “The parents fetched their students at around 11 a.m.," Guillermo Limbuan, Jr., a security guard of Catholic school here, said. As more parents came to get their children out from the school, the school administration was forced to cancel all classes, he said. “It started when a mother came to fetch her grade school student because Caparan village was already attacked by Moro rebels." Barangay Caparan, a pre-dominantly Muslim village, is one the 29 barangays of Ipil town situated some seven kilometers away west from the town center. But the reported attack by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerillas was a hoax. Police Inspector Ariel Huesca, Ipil police chief, in an interview aired over local radio station told the residents that “there was nothing to be afraid of." The alleged attack by MILF rebels, he said, was not true. In a text message, the MILF provincial political affairs chief allayed fears of “imminent attack of MILF forces". “It is not true and there is no order from the top command for any movement of our forces in the province," Barahama Ali, the MILF political affairs officer, said. - GMANews.TV “The reported attack to Ipil town was part of disinformation and intrigues to paint us bad before the public," he ended. - Antonio Manaytay, GMANews.TV