Habal-Habal driver tips police about his 'suspicious' passengers in Bohol

MANILA -- Three more members of the Abu Sayyaf Group, who made the botched incursion last April 11, were killed during a firefight with government security forces in the hinterlands of Clarin, Bohol Saturday.It came after a habal-habal (passenger motorbike) driver alerted the police about what he believed were fugitive Abu Sayyaf members who clashed last week with government forces in nearby Inabanga town, also in Bohol.Three men hired the driver to bring them to any bakery store because they wanted to buy bread. The driver, whose identity was withheld, noticed the three appeared to be restless when they passed by checkpoints.The trio had a very foul odor owing to the fact they they may have not bathed since they fled pursuing government forces last week.The driver also noticed Joselito Melloria, a native of Inabanga, was with the group based on photos of wanted ASG that he saw the police distributed after the Inabanga clashes.After his services to the three men, he proceeded directly to the police to report is suspicion.He was right, his three passengers earlier today were ASG members who were killed in a clash with the police in Clarin town.Bohol Provincial Police Office Chief Supt. Felipe Natividad confirmed that among those killed was Inabanga native, Joselito Melloria, the alleged contact and guide of the bandits in the April 10 landing in Inabanga town.Melloria reportedly married a Muslim woman, converted to Islam and joined the ASG and was tagged as the group’s guide in infiltrating Inabanga, Bohol.The town proper of Clarin is 16 kilometers from the town proper of Inabanga, where government troops figured in a firefight with ASG members on April 11 in Sitio Ilaya, Barangay Napo.The April 11 encounter resulted in the death of five suspected ASG members, three soldiers and a policeman.Among those killed in the encounter was Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Maumar Askali, alias Abu Rami. Chief Supt. Noli Talino, Police Regional Office (PRO)7 director, sid the gunfight started around 12 noono SAturday in Sitio Lagising, Barangay Bacane, Clarin town in Bohol. They were remnants of ASG who entered Inabanga town last week, he said.At least three or four other suspected ASG members are still in the island.