Incident Summary:
04/04/2018: Assailants opened fire on Antonio Takinan in Magpet, North Cotabato, Philippines. Takinan, an indigenous peoples' (IPs) mandatory councilor, was killed and two other people escorting Takinan were injured in the assault. The New People's Army (NPA) claimed responsibility for the incident and stated that Antonio Takinan was targeted because of his participation in counter-insurgency campaigns and because he was guilty of human rights abuses. The NPA also accused Takinan of spying for the military, forcing people to join security forces to fight against the NPA, and extorting money from locals. Sources also noted that Takinan had previously received threats from the NPA for criticizing the group and that Takinan worked to convince people to join the Civilian Active Auxiliary (CAA) rather than the NPA.
Overview
GTD ID:
201804040005
When:
2018-04-04
Country:
Philippines
Region:
Southeast Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
North Cotabato
City:
Magpet
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Assassination |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Government of Magpet |
Specific Description |
Indigenous Peoples (IP) Representative: Antonio Takinan |
Nationality of Target |
Philippines |
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Government of Tagbac |
Specific Description |
Indigenous Peoples (IP) Representative: Robello Tambunan |
Nationality of Target |
Philippines |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Automatic Weapon |
Firearms |
Handgun |
Weapon Details |
M16 assault rifles and .45-caliber pistols were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The victims included Antonio Takinan's escort, Rene Soriano. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
New People's Army (NPA) |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Personal claim) |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
6 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
1 Fatalities / 2 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
1 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
2 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
"NPA owns up to killing of NCotabato councilman," Manila Times (Philippines), April 8, 2018. |
"NPA rebels kill lumad leader in North Cotabato, cop exec says," Philippines Daily Inquirer, April 5, 2018. |
"NPAs tagged in ambush on Manobo leader in North Cotabato town," Philippine Star, April 5, 2018. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties