59 Maute suspects charged with rebellion

MANILA, Philippines -  Government forces have filed rebellion charges against 59 persons, including four minors, who were allegedly recruited to reinforce the terrorist Maute group that continues to fight in Marawi City.

Thirty-two of them were arrested at a checkpoint in Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay while the remaining 27 were nabbed along Daisy Road in Guiwan, Zamboanga City – all on July 25.

They were airlifted on a C-130 plane to Villamor Air Base yesterday and brought to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for preliminary investigation conducted by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong, Quezon City Assistant City Prosecutor Ramoncito Bienvenido Ocampo Jr. and DOJ Assistant State Prosecutor Aristotle Reyes.

Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesperson for Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said the suspects claimed to be recruits and members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

She said the suspects claimed they were headed to Camp Jabalnur in Lanao del Sur for training prior to integration to the regular force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Since there was no coordination made about the movement, Petinglay said the military immediately verified with the MNLF.

The MNLF denied any link with the group and any existing training at Camp Jabalnur.

In the complaint filed before the DOJ, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) alleged that witness Abdurahid Arasid, one of those arrested in Ipil, identified Nur Supian as the one who recruited them, promising that they would become MNLF integrees and, later on, become part of government forces.

Arasid, who claimed to be an MNLF member, said many of those arrested were deceived into thinking that they would be joining the MNLF. He added that they were not aware that they were going to join the Maute group in Marawi. 

During the hearing, Ong asked the arresting officers to present photographs of the plate numbers of the two vans that carried the 32 respondents and the certificates or identification cards from the MNLF.

He also gave the 59 men until Aug. 14 to file their counter-affidavits. They would be assisted by lawyers from the Public Attorney’s Office. 

The suspected Maute group members would be detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City until their next hearing on Aug. 14.

Two barangays

Security forces are now focused on two barangays in Marawi City in the latest update on the battle against the Maute group of extremists.

Armed Forces spokesman Gen. Restituto Padilla said the military operations to recapture Marawi from the Islamic militants had been “positively progressive.”

“The area of operation is confined to about two barangays or, to be exact, about two and a half barangays and confined to about less than one square kilometer of the most problematic areas,” Padilla told the regular Mindanao Hour at Malacañang yesterday.

More than two months since the siege began, Padilla said the military suffered 114 fatalities while the civilian side listed 45 killed with 471 slain terrorists.

Despite the increasing casualty count, Padilla said the morale of the troops is high, with most of them expecting the conflict to end soon.

“Our troops are in a very high state of morale, all leaning forward to finish this operation at the soonest time possible,” he said.

Padilla said the increasing number of casualties on the military side has not deterred the troops and ground commanders from pursuing the mission and accomplishing the much-needed liberation of Marawi.

“These two instances of arrest, and of the other group who knowingly misrepresented themselves to be soldiers and policemen on their way to Marawi City, should allay the fears of our people of the likelihood of the rebellion in Marawi spilling over to their places because the military and the police are doing their level best to contain it,” Westmincom Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez said. 

Meanwhile, nine soldiers were wounded during an ambush by suspected Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao yesterday.

The troops from the Army’s 40th Infantry Battalion were on their way to their battalion command post when a roadside bomb went off in Barangay Pidsandawan.

Witnesses said BIFF gunmen positioned on one side of the road emerged after the explosion and fired at the Kia light truck carrying the nine soldiers.

Although outnumbered, the soldiers returned fire.

The gunmen fled as responding lawmen and troops approached their location. –  With Christina Mendez, Roel Pareño, John Unson, Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude