COTABATO CITY – A former Maguindanao town mayor and his brother were killed while his daughter was arrested by police in separate anti-narcotics raids here before dawn yesterday.
Supt. Aldrin Gonzalez, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office 12, said Talib Abo Sr., erstwhile mayor of Parang, and his brother, Disomimba, died from multiple bullet wounds during a shootout with teams dispatched to search for shabu in their houses in this city.
Gonzalez said the raiding teams were forced to neutralize them when they refused to cooperate and pulled out guns, triggering the gunfight.
He said PRO 12 operatives also raided the houses of Abo’s daughter, Amelia, incumbent councilor in Parang; and Amy, also known as “Baby Love.”
Police arrested and detained Amy after they recovered suspected shabu and a pistol from her residence in Barangay Rosary Heights. Police are preparing appropriate charges against her.
Amelia, who is candidate for vice mayor of Parang, was not arrested for absence of any evidence during the raid, it was learned.
Gonzalez said the shabu and firearms seized during the raids were turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
He said Abo and members of his family have been under surveillance for alleged involvement in large-scale distribution of shabu long before the election to office of President Duterte in May 2016.
Relatives of Abo have asked for an impartial probe on the bloody raids. They also refuted allegations that he and his brother were into narcotics trafficking.
Juvenal Azurin, director of PDEA-ARMM, said the operation against the Abo brothers was led by members of PRO 12 under Supt. Leo de Leon Sua. It was covered with warrants from a court.
Azurin said his office will help PRO-12 in filing corresponding cases against Amy.
About a decade ago, Abo, then mayor of Parang, was reported arrested in Davao City by authorities who had intercepted him bringing in shabu aboard an ambulance. The report turned out later to be a false alarm. (Ali G. Macabalang and Antonio Colina IV)