By Alexandria San Juan
An alleged sub-leader of Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) was arrested in a joint police and military operation in Quezon City last week.
National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar and Quezon City Police District (QCPD) acting chief Col. Ronnie Montejo presented on Friday ASG sub-leader Ibrahim Lambog Mullo, 26, who initially identified himself as Agimar Abi Ahaja to conceal his identity.
National Capital Region Police Chief, PMGen Guillermo Eleazar (L) presents before media arrested Abu Sayyaf Group Sub-Leader Ibrahim Lambog Mullo on Friday at Quezon City Police District, Conference Room. (NCRPO PIO / MANILA BULLETIN)
In a press conference at the QCPD Headquarters in Camp Karingal, Montejo said the suspect was arrested by joint personnel of QCPD's Mobile Force Battalion (DMFB), Special Operations Unit (DSOU), Batasan Police Station (PS-6), PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Intelligence Group (IG).
Prior to Morillo's arrest, intelligence information disclosed that a member of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group was spotted in the area of Barangay Batasan last September 26.
The following night, a concerned citizen tipped off authorities that Mullo was seen at the corner of Ilang-ilang Streer and Commonwealth Avenue in Barangay Batasan Hills with an unlicensed caliber .45 pistol inside his sling bag and a hand grenade. This resulted in his arrest.
Investigation showed that Mullo arrived in Metro Manila sometime in January 2019 along with a certain Arnel Cabintoy and Feliciano Sulayao Jr., who were arrested last June 2019 in Barangay Culiat.
Cabintoy and Sulayao, who were also alleged to be members of the ASG, were nabbed during the implementation of an order for the apprehension of personalities involved in the rebellion in Mindanao.
However, in an interview with Mullo, he claimed that he just moved to Quezon City from San Miguel, Bulacan where he was working in a construction firm to attend to his wife who gave birth recently.
Citing intelligence information from the Army, Montejo said Mullo was recruited to the ASG's Ajang-Ajang Group sub-leader alias "Pading" in 2017 while he was still residing in Zamboanga City.
Mullo admitted that he was enticed to join the ASG because of the P10,000 monthly allowance promised to them prompting him to undergo training with the group in Patikul, Sulu.
In an interview, Mullo confirmed that he was recruited by the ASG through social media but only underwent training with them for a month as he and his wife decided to go in Manila last year to "look for work and live a normal life."
According to him, he was able to leave the ASG in Sulu after asking permission from Pading for a short vacation in Zamboanga City with his wife but Mullo never returned to Sulu and decided to go to Manila instead.
He added that he sold his Armalite rifle to a fellow ASG member.
Although there was no direct evidence linking Mullo to any terror activities in the city, Montejo said that a follow-up investigation was already being conducted to check for possible individuals "aiding and harboring" him.
Mullo is now under police custody while cases for illegal possession of firearms and explosives will be filed against him before the City Prosecutor’s office.