Dimaukom supporters demand justice for slain mayor

DATU SAUDI AMPATUAN, Maguindanao -– Family,
supporters and sympathizers of slain Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom today strongly
condemned his death, describing it a rubout and overkill, and called for deep
probe.

Still, Dimaukom’s family is yet to decide whether to
file charges against the police officers responsible in what it said was a
legitimate anti-drug operation.

Wearing pink-colored shirts, the supporters attended
a news conference called for by the Dimaukom clan to appeal to President
Dutertefor to order an impartial investigation to give justice to our beloved
mayor.

Majority of the supporters doubted the police
version, saying all the victims have bullet wounds in their heads.

At 4:10 a.m. on Friday, Dimaukom and nine of his
supporters and security guards were on board two vehicles, a Toyota Land
Cruiser and Toyota Hi-Lux, heading for Maguindanao when flagged down at a choke
point in Barangay Old Bulatukan, Makilala, North Cotabato.

Why the vehicles were properly parked on the
roadside and that it had received all the bullet marks based on bullets
trajectory, one supporter told reporters.

The supporters called for an independent probe by
the Commission on Human Rights.

They also seek explanation where is former policeman
Bryan Talib, former close-in bodyguard of Dimaukom, who was with him when they
travelled from Davao to Maguindanao.
Talib was missing since he was not among the dead as declared by the
police.

Despite what happened to Dimaukom, his brother, Councilor
Datu Sayton Dimaukom, president, voiced out continued support to President
Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Datu Sayton is the president of Association of
Barangay Chairpersons (ABC) and sits as ex-officio member of the town council.

While Sayton vowed continued support for Duterte’s
war on drugs, the mayor’s supporters said they might change stance in supporting
Duterte if justice for Dimaukom is not served.

Photos that gone viral on social media clearly
shows they were killed in cold blood, overkill, they were executed, Norhata
Karinda, the mayor’s sister, said.

While Vice Mayor Arnida Dimaukom, the late mayor’s
wife, showed up at the news conference, she remained silent.

Her lawyer, Atty. Ronald Torres, said filing of
charges against the law enforcers was one of the options. However, the family is yet to decide on
this. All they want is an explanation
and justice to the slain mayor, he told reporters.

Torres said the family maintained the slain mayor was
not into illegal drugs.

Dimaukom and his wife were among the Maguindanao
local executives publicly named by Duterte in August as narco-politicians. They showed up at Camp Crame and to PNP Director
Gen. Ronaldo dela Rosa to prove his innocence.

President Duterte, during his visit in Cotabato City
and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), were told about the incident
in North Cotabato.

Without reference to the incident, Duterte ordered
the dismantling of police checkpoints across the country. Checkpoints may be
put up unless necessary, he said.