How Supt. Nobleza’s romance with an Abu terrorist blossomed

THEY were an unlikely pair.

Supt. Maria Cristina Nobleza, then assigned at the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), “fell in love” with Renierlo Dongon, an alleged Abu Sayyaf member, while the latter was in detention for a double murder case in 2013.

Asked about how the affair between the cop and the suspected terrorist blossomed, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said Nobleza first met Dongon when he was held in Camp Crame over the bombing in Maxandrea Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City in 2012.

Dela Rosa said Dongon was among the terrorists behind the bombing which killed four people, including two policemen. He was later released after his case was dismissed “due to some technicalities.”

“Noong nakakulong si Dongon dito, siya ‘yung taga interview kasi member siya ng PAOCC noon. Sigi siya interview habang nakakulong si Dongon hanggang sa they let the love begin,” Dela Rosa told reporters in a hastily called press conference.

Dela Rosa said Nobleza went on with the affair despite being married to a fellow police official, Supt. Allan Nobleza, police attaché to Pakistan.

Before her arrest, Nobleza, the deputy chief of the PNP Crime Laboratory office in the Davao Region, was attending a human resource management course at the PNP Training Service in Camp Crame.

Dela Rosa said Nobleza skipped her schooling to travel to Clarin, Bohol.

Arrest

Nobleza, 49, and Dongon, who is in his 20s, were arrested in Bohol after they tried to drive past a checkpoint in Barangay Bacani, Clarin town on Saturday. They were arrested on suspicion that they were about to rescue the remaining Abu Sayyaf bandits in the province.

With Nobleza and Dongon was a woman whose three daughters were married to the slain Indonesian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan; the late Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani; to Abu Solaiman, who was linked to the 2004 Superferry bombing, and to Ahmad Santos, the founder of the Rajah Solaiman Movement.

Based on the text messages retrieved from Nobleza’s cellphone, it appeared that the female officer was communicating with the remaining Abu Sayyaf bandits in Clarin who were asking to be rescued.

Dela Rosa said they are looking into the possibility that Dongon used Nobleza to penetrate the police force.

“Pwede siyang nagamit ng kabila. Because of emotional attachment, pwede siya nagamit para ma-rescue kasama nila,” he said.

“Weakness ng babae ’yan. Emotionally attached ka sa isang tao kahit anong request sa ’yo, gagawin mo,” he said.

Dela Rosa announced that President Duterte had personally instructed him to arrest and jail Nobleza right away.

Nobleza

Based on Nobleza’s personal data sheet, she joined the police force in 1996 and was assigned to the Crime Laboratory until 2004.

From 2013 to 2014, she was assigned to the Intelligence Group, the PAOCC and the office of the PNP chief.

Prior to her assignment in Davao, she served in the now-defunct PNP-Anti Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG).

Nobleza will be charged with illegal possession of firearms, harboring a criminal, and conspiracy to commit terrorism.

After undergoing inquest proceedings in Tagbilaran City, Dela Rosa said they will have Nobleza immediately transferred to Camp Crame./Inquirer.net