DAVAO CITY—A lone gunman shot dead in Cotabato City on Thursday an official of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) whose duties include settling hundreds of decades-old clan conflicts across the region.
The ARMM police identified the official as Norodin Manalao, executive director of the Regional Reconciliation and Unification Council, who was able to settle 300 armed disputes, locally called rido, among influential families and clans.
Manalao was shot dead inside his car at 6 p.m. on Thursday outside a supermarket in Cotabato City, while he was waiting for his wife.
He died on his way to the hospital. Police said he sustained 11 gunshot wounds, many in the chest.
Witnesses said the gunman just walked away from the crime scene. Police have yet to establish the motive of the shooting and the identity of the gunman.
ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman has condemned the killing. Hataman described Manalao as one of the regional government’s “peace assets.”
“We see a peace worker being killed senselessly, despite his work to end strings of bloodshed that gripped some clans in the region for so many years, he himself became a victim of violence. This death is unacceptable and extremely tragic,” he added. He said Manalao’s office settled 300 clan wars, “many of which are in Maguindanao and many of these clan wars have extended up to over two decades.”
Manalao was former project director of the Citizens Coalition for ARMM Electoral Reforms (Citizens CARE). He was chosen by the Asian Network of Free Elections (Anfrel) as one of their observers in the 2008 elections in Bangladesh. The Anfrel is an international coalition of election advocates based in Bangkok, Thailand.
Manuel T. Cayon