CEBU CITY – Suspected Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bomb maker Renierlo Dongon revealed the reason behind their presence in a Bohol town where authorities were hotly pursuing the bandits.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 director Chief Supt. Noli Taliño said Dongon admitted he was in Bohol with Superintendent Maria Cristina Nobleza to provide medicine and other supplies to the remaining ASG members, three of them died in a clash in Clarin.
Dongon said the plan was to drop these supplies near the area were the remaining terrorists were hiding.
Dongon was arrested last weekend along with police Superintendent Maria Cristina Brugada Nobleza as they tried to evade a checkpoint laid out in Clarin at the height of pursuit operations against the remaining ASG bandits in Bohol.
Authorities in Bohol said Nobleza’s vehicle was running fast, prompting authorities to flag it down in a military roadblock in Barangay Bacani at the height of pursuit operations that led to the death of four ASG men in the said town.
Also arrested inside the vehicle reportedly owned by Nobleza were an old woman whose daughters are married to hardcore leaders of the ASG and a 13-year old child of the leader of the extremist group composed of Moslem converts.
At the time of her arrest, Nobleza was the deputy regional chief of the PNP Crime Laboratory in Region 11.
Accusations about Nobleza’s involvement with Dongon were bolstered by the discovery of bomb-making materials and firearms during a raid at the beleaguered lady cop’s residence in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.
Taliño in a radio interview revealed that Nobleza and Dongon got married in muslim rites after the lady cop’s union to a fellow policeman got annulled in 2010.
PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos meanwhile said Nobleza and Dongon who are both detained in Camp Crame are undergoing tactical interrogation.
Carlos said a case of illegal possession of firearms and explosives materials were filed against Nobleza in connection with the raid on her house in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.
For its part, the Internal Affairs Service of the PNP is currently preparing the administrative charges against Nobleza, the case includes Conduct Unbecoming of a PNP officer and grave misconduct. The maximum penalty is dismissal from the service. (MARS W. MOSQUEDA, JR.)