Citations for tanods in arrest of Indonesian in Marawi mulled

LANAO DEL SUR - Officials are planning to award with special citations the volunteer community watchmen behind the arrest of Indonesian terrorist Mohamadin Ilham Syaputra in Marawi City on Wednesday.Chief Superintendent Graciano Mijares, director of the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said Thursday that they were elated with the vigilance of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team who were first to detect the presence of Syaputra in Barangay Loksadatu in Marawi City. That goes to show that if there is strong cooperation among the communities, the police and the military, we can efficiently address domestic security issues, Mijares said.Mijares said he is also thankful that the chief the Marawi City police, Superintendent Ibra Moxsir, acted immediately on the tip of the BPAT members and barangay residents who detained Syaputra when they noticed that he is not a Maranao and could hardly even speak any Philippine dialect.Mijares and ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, chairman of the inter-agency peace and order council in the autonomous region, both said the BPAT members who cornered Syaputra in Barangay Loksadatu deserve special awards.Mijares, as ARMM’s police director, is a senior member of the council. We can grant citations on our level and initiative. I’m sure their local government unit will also recognize their laudable feat, Hataman said on Thursday.Lt. Gen Carlito Galvez, Jr. of the Western Mindanao Command told this news outfit via mobile phone that they will also commend the vigilant community watchmen responsible for the arrest of the Indonesian, who was involved in the siege of Marawi City. They ought to be commended for their good work, Galvez said on Thursday.Relatives in Basilan of the slain Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, among them career service employees of government line agencies, said there were more than 10 Indonesians in the armed group that laid siege to Marawi City on May 23, sparking a conflict that lasted until October 23.The sources said most of the Indonesians got through Mindanao via Gen. Santos City from North Sulawesi in Indonesia, whose territorial seas are frequented by fishing vessels with from Sarangani province.They identified two of Hapilon’s other Indonesian companions that were with him in Marawi City as Savithri and Urdomo Hartono. There were stories purporting that Savithri, who can speak Tagalog, having stayed in Sarangani about two years before, had escaped from Marawi City in August, said Hapilon’s relative, who works in a government office.The Basilan-born Hapilon, who was of mixed Yakan and Tausug descent, and the founder of the Maute terror group, Omar Maute, were both killed last month in Marawi City by pursuing Army units.They jointly led the Abu Sayyaf and Maute gunmen who displayed the Islamic State flag in strategic areas in Marawi City on May 23, causing trouble that resulted in the deaths of hundreds and dislocation of more than 300,000 innocent villagers.