CAGAYAN DE ORO — A United Nations agency focusing on children’s welfare and development has called for action following a series of stray bullets, resulting in the killing and injury of young individuals in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Philippines urged all concerned parties and the Bangsamoro government to prevent further harm and protect communities from armed conflict.
“Violence against children, whether deliberate or circumstantial, should never be accepted,” Kyungsun Kim, UNICEF representative to the Philippines, said in a statement.
On February 11, 2026, a stray bullet reportedly killed a five-year-old boy while attending class as a kindergarten pupil at Damabalas Elementary School in Datu Piang town, Maguindanao del Sur.
This occurred during an alleged encounter between armed groups in the neighboring Barangay Olandang in Nabalawag, a municipality within the Special Geographic Area (SGA) of the Bangsamoro region.
Three weeks later, a 19-year-old female senior high school student was killed in the same way. The victim was reportedly hit in the head by a stray bullet on March 4 while she was in a hurry toward her residence in Barangay Damatulan in Nabalawag town amid the continuing armed hostilities.
The following day (March 5), a Grade 8 student in the same town was rushed to the hospital after he was also hit by a stray bullet.
UNICEF Philippines expressed concern as the three cases happened in just three weeks. It stressed that children have the right to survival, protection, and development.
Authorities are still conducting an investigation. Media reports said that two rival families were allegedly involved in a gun battle.
As of this writing, over 4,800 households from four barangays in Nabalawag town, including Damatulan, Kadigasan, Olandang, and Kuradangan, were displaced due to the recent conflict based on the information from the municipal government.
Amirah Lidasan, a Moro rights advocate, called for justice and accountability as they became casualties of a battle of which they were not part.
She urged the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to help resolve this conflict involving two families.
“The solidarity of families and clans in our community will help the Bangsamoro achieve its aspirations,” Lidasan told Bulatlat in Filipino.
She also called on the Bangsamoro Women Commission and the BARMM’s Ministry of Social Services and Development to strengthen their campaigns, especially in informing communities on the rights of women and children.
Lidasan recalled the tragic deaths of two minor siblings in 2020 after a mortar landed in their house in Barangay Kitango, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur. Firefights between the Philippine Army and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were reportedly ongoing at the time.
“Let’s not allow that we, the Bangsamoro people, add to the injustice we experienced from these military operations,” she said in Filipino. (AMU, DAA)
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