Mamasapano high school class valedictorian: ‘Itigil niyo na po ang giyera’


Got a tip? Send it to us at manila@coconuts.co.


Tearful, 16-year-old Norombai Utto, a high school valedictorian of Mamasapano, Maguindanao, urged the government to stop the war, and invest in education, instead.

In her speech, Utto said: “Itigil na po ninyo ang giyera. Sa halip na kaguluhan ang inyong suportahan, sana po sa edukasyon po kayo mamuhunan, at nang kaalaman at hindi takot ang maging pundasyon ng kapayapaan ng ating bayan. Sa totoo lang po, naiisip ko na sana araw-araw na lang ang graduation, dahil walang military operation.”

“Utto said she is thankful to the Army’s 6th Infantry Division for suspending all military operations against the BIFF to enable schools in affected towns to hold graduation rites for elementary pupils and high school students,” reports John Unson on Philstar.com.

The DepEd-ARMM, the Army’s 601st Brigade and the Mamasapano local government unit joined together to facilitate the graduation ceremony, held last Monday at the makeshift Hadji Salik Kalaing National High School in Mamasapano in Barangay Tukanalipao.

Ten honor students, which of course includes Utto, received a college scholarship each to enable them to pursue tertiary education with the help of the ARMM government. It was ARMM governor, Mujiv Hattaman, who gave away the scholarships. He, as well as ARMM’s education secretary Jamar Kulayan, “took turns calling on the 49 graduating students not to lose hope in the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.”

The encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan 25 left 44 members of the elite Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF) dead. The PNP-SAF troopers had been out to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias “Marwan” and Filipino bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman. Both men had bounties on their heads placed by the U.S. government: US$5 million for Marwan and US$1 million for Usman.

The operation turned bloody when members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said they had to fight back because the PNP-SAF had breached their territory. They alleged that they had not been informed about the operation to get Marwan and Usman. The hostile encounter lasted 11 hours. The MILF lost 18 of their fighters.

Both the government and the MILF have done probes on the Mamasapano encounter to determine what went wrong, as the incident threatens the Bangsamoro peace deal. It has since been revealed that the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and even some armed civilians were also involved in the clash.

Photo: John Unson/Philstar



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on