A SENIOR Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) operative and four members of the militant group believed to be behind the deadly bombing of a Catholic church in the southern Philippines surrendered to authorities over the weekend, the national police chief said on Monday.
Kammah Pae, whom authorities believe to have aided an Indonesian couple in the Jan. 27 suicide attack, gave himself up to government troops, five suspects in the deadly bombing in a Roman Catholic church in Jolo, Sulu last week have surrendered to the police authorities over the weekend, said Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Oscar D. Albayalde.
“The five suspects belong to a group of 22 Abu Sayyaf personalities led by Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan that are believed responsible and conspired for the terrorist attack at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral where 23 persons died and 95 others were wounded,” said Mr. Albayalde in a press conference at Camp Crame.
Kamah Pae was earlier identified by authorities as a member of the Ajang-Ajang faction of the Abu Sayyaf.
“He was forced to surrender,” Mr. Albayalde said, “He probably didn’t want to die during the military offensive.”
Troops killed three suspected Abu Sayyaf members and suffered five fatalities in a firefight on Saturday in remote parts of Patikul, a town in the island province of Sulu, as they pursued those behind the church attack.
The other four who surrendered were identified as Albaji Kisae Gadjali, Rajan Bakil Gadjali, and Kaisar Adjali, and Salit Alih.
The five suspects will face multiple murder charges, among others, Mr. Albayalde said.
The PNP chief also said that Kamah, despite his surrender, only admitted to being part of the Ajang-Ajang faction but not being behind the bombing.
“I think he is not admitting anything, pero ‘yung mga kasamahan n’ya (but his comrades), they are pinpointing to him as the one who escorted itong (this) couple and doon sa bahay n’ya (at his house) we were able to recover an IED (improvised explosive device) and IED components,” said Mr. Albayalde.
The PNP said 14 other suspects remain at large, including the mastermind Sawadjaan.
Mr. Albayalde also confirmed that the suicide bombers were an Indonesian couple, citing the testimonies of witnesses in Jolo.
Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, for his part, confirmed that the Kamah who surrendered was not actually involved in the bombing and they are looking for another suspect with a name that sounds like Kamah.
“He did not actually participate in the bombing, we are looking for another person that whose name sounds like ‘Kamah,’ but the one that surrendered to us, although he told us something about how the bombing was planned, he did not participate in the bombing,” said Mr. Lorenzana in a forum at Camp Aguinaldo on Monday.
The investigation into the church bombing in Sulu, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group, is “far from over,” Mr. Albayalde said.
Abu Sayyaf is a militant organization notorious for kidnappings and extremist factions and has pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
“There are more pieces of evidence that need to carefully examined,” Mr. Albayalde said.
Before Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte suggested on Tuesday that the twin explosions may have been a suicide attack, military and police said the bombs within and outside the church appeared to have been detonated remotely.
A few days later, Mr. Duterte’s interior minister said that suicide attack was carried out by an Indonesian couple with the help of Abu Sayyaf.
That would be in line with a claim of responsibility by Islamic State via its Amaq news agency early on Monday last week.
MARTIAL LAW
Meanwhile, seven opposition lawmakers have asserted that the bombings in Jolo could not be used as justification for the third extension of martial law in Mindanao.
In a memorandum filed on Feb. 4 before the Supreme Court, the seven lawmakers led by Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel C. Lagman reiterated their stance in a January petition that the high court should nullify the extension of martial law for lack of factual basis as actual rebellion does not exist or persist in Mindanao.
They pointed out that the Jolo incident took place 46 days after Congress approved the military rule extension for the third time last Dec. 12, 2018.
“(C)onsequently, it was not a factual basis contemporaneous with or existing at the time of the controversial extension,” they said.
They also said that the bombing incident has been “explicitly categorized as a terrorist attack by no less than President Rodrigo (R.) Duterte, the military and police leadership, and administration officials, and not an act in furtherance of an alleged rebellion in Mindanao,” citing various news reports.
The petitioners claimed that terrorism is not equivalent to rebellion, which is one of the requirements for declaration in martial law under the Constitution, “as they differ in motive, target, and scope.”
“Verily, no one in authority has called the Jolo bombings as acts of rebels or were done in furtherance of rebellion. They were simply and clearly terrorist attacks,” they said.
During the oral arguments on the third extension of martial law last Jan. 29, Major General Pablo M. Lorenzo, Armed Forces of the Philippines deputy chief of staff for intelligence, cited the Jolo bombing as one of the basis for the martial law extension when he was presenting the situation in Mindanao.
Mr. Lorenzo said that the Jolo bombing “demonstrate the continuing danger posed to the public by these terrorist groups while advancing their respective political objectives.”
Mr. Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao on May 23, 2017 after the extremist Maute group attacked Marawi City. In Oct. 2017, the President announced the liberation of Marawi, but has since sought an extension of martial law thrice.
The SC on Jan. 29 held oral arguments for four petitions against the third extension filed by Mr. Lagman and six other lawmakers, members of the Makabayan bloc, a group of human right lawyers led by Christian M. Monsod, and indigenous people teachers from Mindanao. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras, Vann Marlo M. Villegas, and Reuters

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