Hataman to suspend Talitay mayor for absence and drugs

COTABATO CITY --- The executive department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will suspend indefinitely the mayor of Talitay, Maguindanao for possession of illegal drugs and unlicensed firearms.Three platoons of policemen, agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and personnel of the Army’s 6thInfantry Division raided just after dawn Friday the house of Mayor Muntassir Sabal in the town proper of Talitay and found there methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) and undocumented guns.The raiding teams also found shabu in the nearby houses of Sabal’s brother, Abdulwahab, and their cousin, Sidik Ameril, a member of the ARMM’s 24-seat Regional Assembly, touted as the Little Congress of the autonomous region.Abdulwahab, who is Talitay’s incumbent vice mayor, was arrested about two months ago at the Maguindanao airport in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in connection with his alleged drug trafficking activities. ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, presiding chair of the inter-agency regional peace and order council, said on Saturday he has directed his local government secretary, lawyer Datu Kirby Abdullah, to draft a suspension order for Sabal not just for drugs and illegal possession of guns but for his long absence from office as well. I received information that he (Sabal) has been absent from office for many weeks now, Hataman said.Hataman said it is up to Datu Ronnie Sinsuat, speaker of the ARMM assembly, to censure Ameril, also absent from office for more than two months now. Hataman said he will also suspend the municipal local government officer of Talitay if proven to have covered up Sabal’s absence from office since the president announced publicly that the mayor is engaged in narcotics trade. The suspension order shall be out very soon, most likely during the working days next week, Hataman told and//www.ndbcnews.com.ph/ www.ndbcnews.com.ph on Saturday morning.Relatives of Sabal and his constituent-barangay chairmen have confirmed that he has not been reporting for work since President Rodrigo Duterte openly tagged him a narco-politician about three months ago. Tension spread around Talitay town as anti-narcotics agents, backed by soldiers, search for drugs in the house of Sabal early Friday.Automatic gunshots reverberated through the municipal center as MG520 attack helicopters fired machineguns on selected targets as part of the clearing maneuver meant to ensure the safety of the lawmen dispatched to carry out the raid.Followers of Sabal armed with assault rifles were also reported to have opened fire at the helicopters and soldiers approaching from different directions but immediately scampered away when they sensed that more than a dozen Simba combat vehicles were also closing in.Lt. Col. Markton Abo, spokesman of the Army’s 6thInfantry Division, confirmed the incident, which caused panic among residents in the town proper of Talitay. The operation was coordinated properly with the joint ceasefire committee because there are forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Talitay, Abo said.He said the operation was carried out based on more than a dozen warrants issued by a court.