AMBUSHED VEHICLE. Photo shows the car that Maguindanao schools district supervisor Javier Kumandi Sr. was driving when he and his wife were attacked in San Pablo, Tacurong City by two unidentified gunmen on Jan. 17, 2022. The Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao condemned the killing and urged police authorities to resolve the case. (Photo courtesy of DXMS - Cotabato)
COTABATO CITY – Officials of the education department in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on Wednesday condemned the killing of schools district supervisor Javier Kumandi Sr. in Tacurong City on January 17.
In a statement Wednesday, Minister Mohagher Iqbal of the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE)–BARMM said they wanted justice to be served for the death of Kumandi.
“The shooting incident was heart-rending and tragic,” Iqbal said.
Kumandi, district supervisor of Pandag, Maguindanao under the MBHTE-BARMM, was killed in an ambush while driving his vehicle in Barangay San Pablo, Tacurong City around 7:30 p.m. that ill-fated day.
He died on the spot while his wife was injured and is now recuperating in an undisclosed hospital.
“It is something that we at the ministry condemn in the strongest possible terms. We condemn any hatred and violence — just as we condemn the ignorance and prejudice at their root,” Iqbal said.
Iqbal and other education officials of Maguindanao and in the region have called on the police to bring the perpetrators behind bars and file appropriate charges.
All the MBHTE officials said they are in solidarity with Kumandi’s wife and family.
“The MBHTE stands in sorrow and solidarity as we grieve and mourn the passing of such hardworking member of the ministry alongside the family, friends, and co-workers of Supervisor Kumandi,” a separate statement from MBHTE officials said. (PNA)
