Army, PNP seize improvised bombs, guns in Sultan Kudarat

LUTAYAN,
Sultan Kudarat (May 7) – Joint Army and police forces raided a house here
Sunday and seized war materials, including improvised bomb and bomb-making
components from a rebel’s home.

Lt. Colonel
Harold Cabunoc, the commander of the 33rd Infantry Battalion who led
the law enforcement operation, said Lasian Manibpel, the subject of search
warrant, managed to escape into the forest when police and soldiers, backed by
armored personnel carrier, swooped down the village of Sisiman at 3 a.m.
Sunday.

The suspect
retreated to the mountains after sensing the arrival of the government troops.
He is an alleged member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front based on the
recovered identification card inside the house, Cabunoc said.

Government
forces recovered from Manibpel’s house rifle grenades, a Cal 5.56mm M16 Rifle,
two shotguns, and a bandolier with steel magazines for M16 Rifle.

Thirty persons
were apprehended but later released to village chair Sandiale Mando after
thorough investigation.

The joint
operation was conducted following the bombing in Koronadal City that left two
persons injured.

Senior Supt
Nestor Salcedo, the police provincial director of the South Cotabato, said the
recovered improvised bomb has similar components with the bombs that were
detonated in Koronadal City on April 29.

My EOD
specialist revealed that the bomb components include nails, electrical wires,
and cellphone triggering device. There is a possibility that the bomb-maker is
the same as the one who fabricated the recently detonated bombs, Salcedo said.

The bomb
attacks in Koronadal City had prompted the government forces to collaborate in
fighting the terrorist threat. Civilian tipsters had flooded the hotline number
of the security forces with verifiable information about the suspects.

Lutayan
residents had opposed occupation by MILF forces in January last year that led to
the murder of a local resident.

There is no
recognized MILF camp in Sultan Kudarat especially in my hometown in Lutayan. I
will formally write a complaint against the presence of an armed group here
because it violates the GPH-MILF Joint Ceasefire Agreement, Gov. Pax Mangudadatu
said after the raid.

Cabunoc said
that the government forces had always supported the primacy of the peace
process during the conduct of law enforcement operations.

I had
used the peace mechanisms in coordinating the deployment of troops in MILF
communities. However, I will lodge a complaint before the Coordinating
Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) for the MILF faction's
ceasefire violations such as carrying of weapons in peaceful communities and
the presence of bomb-making materials inside their homes, he said. (Edwin
O. Fernandez)