THE government is hunting down 230 individuals—including incumbent and former politicians—who supported or financed the Maute terrorist group that attacked Marawi City and led President Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law in Mindanao.
“These are local politicians. Some of them were defeated in the 2016 polls. Others are persons of influence,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told Manila Standard.
These individuals form part of some 230 persons of interest whom Lorenzana, as martial law administrator, ordered arrested.
“The first list is about 130 individuals. The second one is about 100. But we have arrested only three as far as I know: Cayamora [Maute], his daughter and Pre Salic,” Lorenzana added.
Cayamora Maute, father of brothers Omar and Abdullah who are fighting government troops in Marawi City, was arrested on Tuesday at a checkpoint in Toril, Davao City. He was arrested with his daughter, Norjanah Maute.
Former Marawi Mayor Fahad Salic was nabbed at a checkpoint Wednesday evening for rebellion. Lorenzana said Salic was connected to the terrorist group “by affinity” as his wife, Rasmia, is a cousin of the Maute brothers.
In Arrest Order No. 1, Lorenzana directed the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation to arrest more than a hundred individuals for “killing, kidnapping, [and] bombings in Marawi City, sowing terror to the populace.”
Among those on the first list are Eyemen Alonto and Azam Ampatua, both members of a local carjacking group who were later linked by authorities to the Maute group. Ampatua was killed during a shootout with local police in Iligan in February while Alonto, who was then driving the getaway vehicle, was arrested.
Others on the lists include:
Fahad’s brother Solitario Salic and his son Wahad. Solitario also previously served as Marawi City mayor and was a former commander of the Moro National Liberation Front; Samer Salic, a former city market head of Marawi City; Abu Dar, who allegedly coordinates with foreign terrorists, and bomb expert Najib Pundog, who were both able to escape when the military overran a Maute-Abu Sayyaf encampment in Lanao del Sur in April;
Hashim Maute (alias Apple Jehad), Hata Macabanding Lantud and Omar Khalil, also known as Umair Pacora Khalil, who were arrested in August last year in Marawi City. Khalil was positively identified by the police as being the same Umair who held the decapitated heads of two abducted sawmill workers in April 2016.
They were freed by their comrades in a jailbreak four days after they were arrested; Junaid Kiram Undac, allegedly a member of another ISIS-inspired group, Khilafah Islamiya Movement, and who was arrested in June 2015 when he and his men attacked a soldier in Marawi City; Edris Bao and Nassif Macadato, who both ran and lost for mayor of Butig, Lanao del Sur in the 2016 polls;
Joselito Meloria, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf Group who was killed in Bohol in April; former Marawi city engineer Talib Bayabao; Muslim cleric Jamil Yahya, a former member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front; Jing Pagayao, one of the suspects in the Davao night market blast who was not indicted for lack of probable cause;
former Binalbagan vice mayor Samuel Gavaran; former Butig Mayor Ibrahim Macadato, whose wife is the sister of the mother of the Maute brothers; and Esmael Abdulmalik, alias Abu Toraype, allegedly the founder of the new terror group Dawlah Islamiyah Maguindanao and a brigade commander of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. The military claimed he was killed during air and ground assaults in two Maguindanao villages in March this year.
Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Gen. Eduardo Año said the names on Lorenzana’s list were based on documents seized during a raid aimed at capturing top Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon in a hideout on the outskirts of Marawi City on May 23.
The raid triggered widespread attacks on the city by the Maute group.
Año said the house was the same spot where top terrorist figures, including Hapilon, met, as seen on a video found on a mobile phone.
“We have identified the owner of the house, but I’d rather not reveal the identity…he is included in the list. We are identifying the supporters of this group,” Año said.
Año said the video showed Hapilon meeting with his cohorts and plotting to occupy Marawi City.
“It’s part of the documentation for propaganda purposes and at the same time as a proof to their comrades in the ISIS in the Middle East about what they are doing. What they did was deliberate,” Año said.
Although the military said Hapilon was wounded during attacks in Butig, Lanao del Sur in January, he did not seem to be ailing in the video.
While Maute group terrorists were still holed up in the financial district of Marawi City, Año said resistance was weakening.
“In a few more days, it will be over. We’ll be able to clear all these areas,” Año said, without giving any specific target date.
