Davao blast suspect had suspicious visitors, neighbors say

COTABATO CITY, Philippines -- Friends and relatives of the principal suspect in the deadly Sept. 2 bombing in Davao City said they were suspicious of him long before his arrest here last week.

 

Neighbors had also confirmed having repeatedly heard elders of arrested suspect TJ Tagadaya Macabalang reprimand him over “links” with jihadist groups before the bombing, which left 15 dead and injured more than 60 others.

 

Macabalang's relatives were also overheard confronting him, months prior, for entertaining calls from people who could not speak and understand the local language and who were apparently foreigners.

 

Macabablang, Wendel Apostol Facturan and Musali Mustapha were arrested at a checkpoint last Tuesday. According to authorities, the three are members of the Maute group, a terrorist group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. 

 

“We knew they (Macabalang and Factoran) were not kidnapped as insinuated by some broadcasters who reported the incident as a simple police story," said a government employee who lives near Macabalang’s house.

 

Even customers of Macabalang’s roadside establishment here, the Stickerwerkz Printshoppe, said they were suspicious of him even before the Sept. 2 bombing in Davao City.

“We started to have doubts on his persona, particularly on his religious activities, when we learned he was frequented by bearded men from the provinces of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Lanao del Sur,” said a former customer.

 

The source, who asked to be identified only as Kim, said he and his colleagues in a motorcycle club stopped patronizing Macabalang’s sticker business when they noticed he was always visited by men who spoke so much about jihad and the concepts of a puritan Islamic state.

 

Operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group found improvised explosive devices and firearms in Macabalang's house a day after he was reportedly “abducted” by unidentified men.

 

The regional office of the CIDG in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is now in custody of the IEDs and guns.

 

Macabalang’s father, Teng, an ethnic Maguindanaon, who was inside the suspect’s house when the agents arrived to conduct the search, is now being held at the CIDG-ARMM’s detention facility.

 

Also recovered from the scene were a World War II-era rifle, a .45-caliber pistol and a bolt-action .22 caliber hunting rifle mounted with a scope.

 

Macabalang's relatives said they had been hearing stories about his connection with Middle Eastern jihadist groups, but said they had no proof of this.

 

His detained father told reporters that he, too, heard of his son’s alleged linkages with religious extremists in the Middle East.