Self-proclaimed ISIS sympathizer in Cotabato found with bombs, firearms

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Lawmen found improvised explosive devices and firearms in the house here of a self-proclaimed Islamic militant believed to have links with the Independent State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The cache were seized by agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (CIDG-ARMM), who raided before dawn Friday the residence here of Tea-Jae Macabalang, owner of a computer-generated graphics publications establishment here.

Macabalang was “arrested” two days before by unidentified law enforcement operatives at the uptown area here.

Macabalang reputedly has a shady personality that relatives and friends have long been suspecting he was engaged in illegal activities.

He was said to have earlier proclaimed himself as a sympathizer of the ISIS and boasted of his having friends in the Middle East whom he is helping to connect with religious extremists in Lanao del Sur and in Maguindanao.

CIDG-ARMM operatives are now in custody of the IEDs and firearms they collected from the house of Macabalang.

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

Also recovered from the scene were a vintage World War II carbine .30 caliber rifle, a .45 caliber pistol and a bolt-action rim-fire .22 caliber hunting rifle mounted with a sniping scope.

Relatives of Macabalang said they have been hearing stories about his connection with Middle Eastern jihadist groups, but did not mind owing to lack of corroborating proofs.

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

Neighbors are convinced the gunmen who snatched Macabalang two days before his house was raided by CIDG-ARMM operatives could be military intelligence agents.

Talks are circulating here since Thursday, purporting that he was brought to Metro Manila by his captors for tactical interrogation.