By NITZ ARANCON,
LITO RULONA, Correspondents
and FROILAN GALLARDO
Special Correspondent .
ONE of five terrorism suspects was hardly noticed because all eyes were on the widow of slain Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir a.k.a. Marwan, the target of the botched Jan. 25, 2015 operations of the Special Action Force in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
The suspect, being linked to an extremist group, is 47-year old SPO4 Andy Atta of Poblacion, Baroy in Lanao del Norte.
Authorities yesterday pressed charges against him, Marwan’s widow and three other terrorism suspects who were arrested in Lanao del Norte on Sunday morning.
Atta has been a police officer for 22 years — he became an officer in 1996, according to SPO4 Noel Oclarit of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
Oclarit said Atta, who hails from Sultan Kudarat, served in the National Police’s Regional Internal Affairs Service based in Basilan.
Police filed initial complaints for illegal possession of firearms and explosives against the five arrested suspects, including SPO4 Atta, at the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Lanao del Norte.
Charged along with Atta were Marwan’s 45-year old widow Juromee Dongon a.k.a. “Tata” and “Saynab,” her sisters Lorillie and Norein Santos, and father Romeo.
Marwan’s widow Juromee and her sister Lorille, and SPO4 Atta were arrested at Purok 5, Poblacion, in Tubod town.
Police said Lorille is the wife of Atta whose rank of Senior Police Officer 4 is equivalent to a master sergeant in the military with a corresponding monthly salary of P34 thousand, excluding allowances and benefits.
But aside from being the husband of the sister of Marwan’s wife, the extent of Atta’s involvement in terrorism activities remained unclear.
Oclarit said authorities were still looking into Atta’s previous activities to determine the extent of his involvement in terrorism.
Atta was disarmed. He had a government-issued Glock 9mm pistol with three magazines. Also found in Juromee’s house where Atta and his wife were caught were a detonating cord, a grenade and six blasting caps and assembly, and other bomb-making paraphernalia.
Another raid in Sitio Tinago, Barangay San Juan in the neighboring town of Baroy resulted in the arrest of another Dongon sibling Norein, 43, and their 70-year old father Romeo.
The five suspects were brought to the CIDG headquarters in Camp Evangelista where they were placed under detention.
The arrests were based on a search warrant issued by Judge Dennis Vicoy of the 7th branch of the Regional Trial Court in Lanao del Norte.
Camp Alagar spokesman Supt. Lemuel Gonda said the raids were jointly carried out by the CIDG, military, National Intelligence Commission Agency, and the Baroy and Tubod police stations.
Gonda said Marwan’s widow is believed to have direct links to terrorism.
“In terms of financial (resources), ma-link gyud sila,” said Gonda, adding it was apparent that Marwan’s group was re-grouping (but) their move is anticipated.”
Police said there were many other suspected terrorists hiding in the region.
Gonda said Camp Alagar and the 4th Infantry Division has stepped up the alert level in the region in anticipation of a terror attack.
Authorities first raided Juromee’s house in Baroy, Lanao del Norte, at around 5:10 am Sunday where her father and another sister were. There, they allegedly seized a caliber .45 pistol, a grenade, a laptop, a cellphone, a blasting cap, and electrical wires. They then raided Juromee’s other house in Tubod at around 6:22 am.
Police said Juromee, a Muslim convert, had been married to Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani. After Janjalani was killed by government troops in 2006, she became the wife of Marwan who subsequently became Southeast Asia’s most-wanted terrorist until January 2015 when he was killed in an operation of police special forces men in Mamasapano, Maguindano. Sixty-six others were killed that day in Mamasapano: 44 members of the National Police’s SAF, 17 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces and five civilians.
SPO2 Gerry Parami of the Tubod police station in Lanao del Norte said Marwan’s widow owned a small store, selling dried fish and other food supplies in the town.
Parami said the town police did not know Juromee was wanted by the government for her alleged links to terrorism.
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