Police intelligence operatives have collared two Daulah Islamiyah Philippines members who took part in the Marawi City siege in 2017, the arrest was made a little over a month before the State-of-the-Nation Address (SoNA) of President Duterte.
Gen. Oscar Albayalde, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said the two Moslem converts were among those who escaped before government forces defeated the Maute Group and its allied fighters in 2017.
He identified those arrested as Arnel Cabintoy, alias “Abu Mus’Ab,” and Feliciano Sulayao, alias “Abu Muslim.”
“Both suspects yielded blasting caps and grenades when arrested. They have been presented before state prosecutors for inquest proceedings for illegal possession of explosives,” said Albayalde in a press briefing in Camp Crame in Quezon City.
The two, he said, were collared on Saturday in a Muslim community in Tandang Sora, Quezon City.
Albayalde said Cabintoy and Sulayao have been the subject of the surveillance in Mindanao, particularly in Sulu, before they were monitored to have arrived in Metro Manila.
“They arrived here less than a week. Our intelligence operatives were able to monitor them, as such, the arrest,” said Albayalde.
The official said that they are still conducting investigation to determine the reason why Cabintoy and Sulayao went to Metro Manila.
Next month is the scheduled fourth SoNA of Duterte at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City, or near the place where the two were apprehended.
It was recalled that Duterte was the one who dared the Maute Group to carry out its plan to lay siege on Marawi. Five months later, the Maute Group attacked Marawi.
Police, however, are not discounting the possibility that the two were just hiding in Metro Manila since they are being hunted down in Mindanao. The entire Mindanao is still under Martial Law.
“Although there is no direct evidence linking them to any terrorist activity in Metro Manila, an investigation is underway to uncover the circumstances surrounding their presence in the city to possibly identify the persons who provided them sanctuary,” said Albayalde. (Aaron Recuenco)
