TALIÑO
The failure of Abu Sayyaf to establish a base in Bohol should serve a lesson to the bandit group: They are not safe in Central Visayas.
“They are not welcome here,” said Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7).
He told reporters on Thursday that the bandit group should smarten up and avoid Central Visayas in any of their plans.
The lack of community support and vigilance of the residents would make it difficult for the bandit group to sow terror here, he added.
“Kukuyogin sila rito sa Central Visayas. (They will be mobbed here),” he said in an interview upon returning to Cebu City from Bohol on Wednesday morning.
Taliño said they are not discounting the possibility that other Abu Sayyaf members will retaliate or rescue their remaining comrades in Bohol.
But he said, Cebu and Bohol, except for the mountain areas of Clarin, remain safe.
“All activities like fiestas or vacation must go on. We assure the public that the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are on top of the situation. We will provide you security. With the help of the community, I’m sure Central Visayas is 100 percent safe,” Taliño said.
The vigilance of ordinary residents prevented the Abu Sayyaf from implementing their plans when they sailed to Bohol from their base in Jolo.
Children reported the presence of armed men with ammunition as “big as corn ears” in Barangay Napo, Inabanga town on April 10 and alerted the government troops who chased them down, killing three members including their leader Abu Rami.
The quick-thinking of a habal-habal driver last Saturday helped the government troops locate the remaining members in nearby Clarin town and killed four others, including Napo native Joselito Melloria who guided the group to his hometown.
Now the government troops were hunting the remaining three Abu Sayyaf members whom they believed were still hiding in Clarin town.
Taliño said he was grateful to the people who immediately informed the authorities regarding the presence of armed men in Inabanga town two weeks ago.
“The information given by the community and the action taken by authorities were timely. We thank the intelligence officers of the Army and the police, as well as the barangay officials and the local government units,” he said.
Taliño awarded the Bohol policemen as well as members of the Special Action Force, the Regional Public Safety Battalion, and the Police Public Safety Company for taking part in the operations against the Abu Sayyaf members.
A policeman from Calape town, Bohol, SPO2 Rey Anthony Nazareno, was among the four casualties on the part of the government.
The three others were 2nd Lt. Estelito Saldua Jr.; Corporal Meljun Cajaban; and Sergeant John Dexter Duero of the Philippine Army.
Taliño said the military and the police continue to look for the three remaining Abu Sayyaf members in the mountains of Clarin town, Bohol.
He said he believed these three members must be fighting for their survival and no longer pose much threat.
Based on the information the police received, two of these three were wounded and had only one firearm.
“Hindi na natin bibitawan ito. (We will not let go of this.) I’m sure they are running out of food, and perhaps they are just drinking water anywhere. Very soon, we will get them,” Taliño said.
Aside from Rami and Melloria, killed in the two gun-battles in Inabanga and Clarin were bomb experts Abu Sufyan and Edimar Isnain; pumpboat operator Aldimar Taib; alyas Richard; alyas Omil; and an unidentified man.
The three at large were Alyas Asis, Kaifar Sawadjaan also known as Um Ammra, and alyas Ubayda. Taliño said the reports that remaining bandits had a pocket money of P5 million and that one of them was the son of a sultan in Mindanao remained unverified.
He reiterated that he believed members of the Abu Sayyaf came to Bohol to do bombing and kidnapping activities, expanding their operations which used to be focused in and around Jolo and Basilan islands in the southwestern tip of Mindanao.
“The items, the IED (improvised explosive device) components, authorities recovered speak for itself. We are just glad that we were able to abort their mission,” he added.
On Monday evening, the police recovered components for an improvised explosive device inside the luggage that Supt. Maria Cristina Nobleza and Renierlo Dongon left behind in their rented apartment in Barangay Looc in Panglao town, Bohol.
The two, along with Dongon’s mother Judith and 13-year-old nephew, were arrested on board a black Nissan Navara pickup for refusing to stop at a checkpoint in Clarin town in Bohol on Saturday evening, at the time when government troops were hunting down the Abu Sayyaf members.
Taliño said Nobleza denied that they were there to rescue the Abu Sayyaf members but only to deliver medicines to the fleeing bandit group.
“Their plan was allegedly just to throw the medicines,” he said.
Found inside the vehicle were bottles of energy drink, canned goods, diving gear, goggles, biscuits, boxes of chocolates, male underwear, T-shirts, shorts for men and medical kits.
Nobleza
Nobleza, deputy crime laboratory chief in Davao Region, and Dongon had been flown to Camp Crame in Quezon City while the charges against them were being resolved by the prosecutor.
Judith was still at the Bohol Provincial Police Office while the minor was turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Nobleza was charged with illegal possession of firearms, resistance and disobedience to agent of person in authority, and harboring of a criminal at the provincial prosecutor’s office in Bohol.
Resistance and disobedience to agent of person in authority charges were filed against Dongon and Judith.
But Taliño said they would file additional charges against the couple for illegal possession of explosives, a non-bailable offense.
Aside from the explosive components found in their luggage in Panglao, the police found firearms, ammunition and explosives inside Nobleza’s house at Pine Hills Executive Homes in Purok 5, Barangay Casisang in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.
Based on their investigation, he said Nobleza and Dongon were married under Muslim rites years ago. (see separate story)
“Dongon himself admitted that they are married. Nobleza converted to Islam so they could tie the knot,” he said.
Dongon was allegedly responsible for the bombing of Maxandrea Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City in 2012 that resulted in the death of two individuals.
Like what the community did in Bohol, Taliño urged the public to do the same — help the police in ensuring peace and order.
“Whenever you notice any suspicious-looking person or an unusual event, please immediately inform the authorities. Know what is happening around you. Let us help one another in making sure our communities are safe,” he said.