Alimaong man dead, cop hurt in shootout

A member of the group Lumad Alimaong died while a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team was wounded in a shootout Sunday evening in the mountain barangay of Agsungot in Cebu City where a land dispute is being waged over claims of an ancestral land.

The SWAT team were there to check a report by Agsungot barangay captain Anne Alcover that armed men were meeting inside a nipa hut.

When police arrived, several men scampered from the hut, leaving behind a fragmentation grenade. Police said someone fired at them when the police were about to pull out.

A bullet hit team leader SPO2 Renante Nioda but he was protected by a bullet proof vest. The slug ricocheted, slightly wounding his face.

Nioda fired back hitting Rodelio Montes Estores, 50, a farmer of barangay Busay. Estores died on the spot. Police recovered a .3567 revolver with live ammunition, two empty shells of a .38 caliber pistol, a

fragmentation grenade and an identification card of the group bearing the name of Estores.

Members of Lumad Alimaong originally belong to a tribal minority in Mindanao. Some have settled in Cebu and owned firearms.

The SWAT team went to the area with members of the Cebu City Public Safety Company .

Supt. Romeo Santander, chief of the City Intelligence Branch of Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said members of the Alimaong group had a land dispute with residents in the area.

The group insisted they were the legal owners of the lot occupied by several residents but have not presented documents to prove their claim.

“We will not question if they are owners of the land as ancestral domain but they have to show documents,” Santander said.

Santander said they respect the Alimaong group but possession of guns is a different story.
“No one is above the law”, said Santander.

Because of reports that most Lumad Alimaong members are keeping guns, Santander said he will refer the matter to higher headquarters.

Former Agsungot Barangay Captain Pastor Alvover II who went to CCPO yesterday said several unidentified men arrived in their barangay claiming the land was part of their ancestral domain.

The group leader, Vicente Gonzalez who is also called Ha Datu Bontito Leon Kilat, cried foul over the death of his member.

He added that under their tribal law, they are allowed to carry firearms and to send subpoena to any member of their society.

He said their tribe is a legal group and the nipa hut where they were holding a meeting was their tribal court.