COTABATO CITY, 30 August - Authorities yesterday tagged the son of a former Moro rebel leader in the killing of an Irish missionary in a botched kidnap attempt in the violence-plagued south.
They said Akto Sumagayan Daing, the son of Saiirip Daing, was the gunman who shot Columban missionary Rev. Rufus Halley in Malabang town of Lanao del Sur province on Tuesday.
Halley, 57, was driving his motorcycle when a World War II vintage military-type truck blocked his path near the remote village of Diamaro, some 850 kilometers (530 miles) south of Manila.
According to the police, Daing was a former member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
"We're not saying yet that the MILF is directly involved but the suspects definitely have a direct link with the MILF commander," said Senior Supt. Akmad Omar, police commander of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao.
But MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied any connection between the gunmen and the MILF, and an army commander also absolved the MILF of any complicity.
Kabalu said the MILF condemned the killing of Halley, who had served at the Our Lady of Peace parish in Malabang for the past 20 years. "Men of peace like him should be spared from violence. But there are people who give priority to money that they would not think twice about killing people," he said.
Halley sparked controversy last year when he refused to hold masses inside military camps at the height of the military offensive against the MILF.
Kabalu said MILF fighters had identified Ato Masandang, nephew of former Malabang Vice Mayor Hadji Omar Masandang, as one of the gunmen.
Both the nephew and his uncle are former rebels of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) of Nur Misuari, said Kabalu.
Maj. Gen. Teofilo de los Santos, the regional army commander, also said Saiirip Daing, the father of the gunman was a former MNLF commander
De los Santos said Halley spoke briefly with the assailants, in view of eyewitnesses.
The men shot Halley in the head with an M-16 assault rifle as he tried to flee, he said. Five shell casings were found at the scene.
De los Santos said the suspects fled immediately after the shooting.
"This was an attempted kidnap for ransom," De los Santos said. "There was apparently no political motivation."
De los Santos said he asked Halley several weeks ago to accept armed escorts but Halley refused, saying he felt safe.
Outpouring of grief
In Malabang, thousands of Christians and Muslims poured into the Our Lady of Peace parish church to have a last glance of the priest they considered a "bridge".
Halley, who arrived in the Philippines in 1969 and had lived in Mindanao for 20 years, was a peace advocate who was loved by both Muslims and Christians in his parish, the CBCP said.
"His demise is really painful for us Muslims and Maranaws," Bai Connie Balindong, a school principal, said.
It was "equivalent to the death of 10 Maranaws or 10 Christians. That's how important Father Halley was to us," she said.
Fr. Bernard Maes, a Belgian missionary who is Halley's "neighbor parish priest" in Balabagan town, wept as he saw thousands of Muslims and Christians line up to take a glimpse of the Columban priest's remains.
"The real victims are the people here who have been victims of kidnapping and injustices by lawless groups," said Maes, who himself was kidnapped in 1997 by Moro bandits in Balabagan.
"Why a good man has to die when there are many bad guys who should die first?" Bob Anton, a farmer-trader, said.
Malabang parish is under the Prelature of Marawi City. Its motto is "Dialogue of faith between Muslims and Christians."
"We had been working for dialogues among Muslims and Christians here, he is well loved by the people," said Jun Sillada, Halley's confidante.
Halley was the 23rd member of the Columban Fathers to die violently abroad since the order was founded in 1918, according to the online edition of the Dublin-based Irish Independent.
He was the second eldest among seven children of the late Maxie Halley, a solicitor in Waterford City in Ireland, and Imelda, who is now in her 80s, it said.
