COTABATO CITY - Security forces arrested a senior Moro Islamic Liberation Front leader for carrying a pistol in the troubled Muslim province of Lanao del Sur, officials said Sunday.
Officials said Sambitory Mangigin, commander of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces headquarters and chairman of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party, was apprehended at a checkpoint manned by members of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 2 in the village of Diamaro in Malabang town.
Maj. Gen. Alex Rillera, commander of Joint Task Force Central, said Mangigin was driving a pickup truck when he was flagged down at the checkpoint for security inspection. He said soldiers recovered a .45-caliber pistol with eight ammunition from the MILF leader.
Mangigin’s truck was also impounded, according to Rillera, who said the carrying of firearms was suspended by the national police in the province following the recent ambush of Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr in Maguing town that killed his four police escorts.
“He violated the memorandum from PNP PROBAR on the suspension of PTCFOR posted on February 16,” said Rillera, referring to a gun permit which allows a certified gun owner to carry his firearms outside residence.
“The apprehended personality and confiscated items were turned over to Malabang Municipal Police Station for proper disposition,” Rillera said.
Lt. Gen. Roy Galido, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, lauded the soldiers for seizing the weapon of Mangigin. “Your armed forces ensure the effective implementation of the law to maintain peace and order and protect the communities from violence,” he said.
The former rebel
group under Murad Ebrahim who is now the regional governor did not issue a
statement on the arrest of Mangigin. Many former rebels still carry weapons
despite the signing of a peace deal in 2014 and they even maintain many camps
in the southern region. (Mindanao Examiner)
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