Sayyaf arms supplier nabbed near Crame

MANILA, Philippines – Police arrested four men, including the suspected leader of a gun running syndicate, during a raid near the headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in San Juan City over the weekend.

PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said the raiding policemen seized several high-powered firearms from the suspects who were said to be suppliers of the Abu Sayyaf.

“We estimate the firearms seized were worth at least P6 million, including the ammunition,” Dela Rosa told a news conference yesterday as he presented the firearms.

Dela Rosa presented
 before the media M203 grenade launchers, M14 rifles, M16 assault rifles and thousands of ammunition.

He said most of the firearms seized from the suspects – Unding Kenneth Isa, Hja Risdimona Isa, Aljamer Akarab Mandih and Hurbin Alhi Sahibul – were traced to the government arsenal.

The raiding lawmen were armed with a search warrant at the house of Unding Isa at No. 8 Unit 4, 3rd West Crame, Barangay West Crame, San Juan City on Saturday.

Dela Rosa said Isa was the subject of the warrant.

“We accomplished another operation that led to the arrest of four men including one of the alleged gunrunning group leaders that reportedly supplies high-powered guns to the Abu Sayyaf and warlords in the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) including politicians,” Dela Rosa said.

“Most of the ammunition are traced back to the government arsenal so all others are still being traced back,” he added.

Chief Supt. Roel Obusan, director of the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said they received information last July that Isa and a certain “Wahid” of Indanan, Sulu were supplying firearms to the Abu Sayyaf and warlords in the ARMM by transporting them from Manila through Zamboanga City.

“Accordingly, they’re using a private vehicle via RoRo (roll-on, roll-off ferry),” Dela Rosa added.

“We suspected they have a contact from the government arsenal. Either from somebody who’s been a stock houseman of the ammunition coming from the government arsenal,” he said.

Obusan said the CIDG worked on the intelligence report that led to the search warrant.

Obusan said gun running activities intensified before the elections, where Isa reportedly ran for a local post in Sulu but lost.

“Sometime in August 2016, the two and some unidentified Abu Sayyaf members were in Manila to buy a cache of M203 and M14 firearms, explosives components, and thousands of ammunition, upon orders of an unidentified Abu Sayyaf commander,” Obusan said. 

“The group was able to buy the firearms and ammos and were planning to transport and deliver those contraband to Basilan and Sulu to the Abu Sayyaf,” he said.

Obusan said Isa started living in Metro Manila in 2012 by selling garments in a mall in Cubao, Quezon City.

He said the suspect could not support a simple lifestyle and admitted selling firearms on the side.

Isa admitted to Dela Rosa that he bought the firearms for P120,000 and sold them at a much higher cost.

The military, on the other hand, admitted the possibility that the firearms could have come from the government arsenal.

“We would like to say possible (seized firearms came from government arsenal), there is a possibility that there are some misfits in the AFP who might be involved in this unscrupulous act,” said Col. Edgard Arevalo, chief of the Public Affairs Office of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Arevalo said there are servicemen involved in the illegal activities and are facing investigation.

Arevalo cited the case of Army T/Sgt. Santiago Caasi, of Mechanized Infantry Division in Basilan, who is now facing court-martial proceedings.

“We are saying that we are not going to take this lightly, the Armed Forces is very keen, very seriously looking into this. This is not a minor offense,” Arevalo stressed.

“We are coordinating with our counterparts in the PNP and probably even as we speak coordination or sharing of notes and information are already ongoing to ferret out the truth or other information which we can obtain,” he added.

The Zamboanga City police said they are coordinating with the AFP to tighten security to prevent smuggling of firearms through the city.

“We have intensified our monitoring in the port areas even in the finger wharves that are loosely operated,” said Chief Insp. Helen Galvez, spokesperson for the Zamboanga City Police.

Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesman for Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) said military intelligence units have jointly conducted operations with their police counterparts to trace the supply of armaments of the Abu Sayyaf.

“We are very concerned why the Abu Sayyaf group is not running out of guns and ammunition despite the series of encounters and recovery of their armaments,” Tan said.

He lamented reports that government arsenals are the main source of weapons of the bandit group.

“It is painful to admit that the firearms could have come from the government armory and are being used to kill the soldiers. We are angry and we don’t tolerate it,” Tan said. – Roel Pareño