THE SUSPECTED gunrunner arrested in Quezon City on January 1 is the point person of the Dawlah Islamiya terrorist group in Metro Manila, according to the police chief. Philippine National Police officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco F. Gamboa on Thursday said their background investigation revealed that the suspect, Datu Omar Palty, is a member of the terrorist organization under the faction of Esmael Abdulmalik, also known as Turaife ad Turaypi. Mr. Palty was previously a member of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a breakaway group from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that has signed a peace deal with the government. “Palty was appointed by alias Turaypi as the point man or contact person of his group in Metro Manila,” Mr. Gamboa said in a press briefing at Camp Crame. As point person, Mr. Palty was tasked to coordinate with Dawlah Islamiya operatives from the provinces of Sulu and Basilan. He was collared during an entrapment operation in Barangay North Fairview, where he sold a loaded .45-caliber handgun for P10,000 to an undercover police officer. A fragmentation grenade was also recovered from him. Mr. Gamboa said Mr. Palty is suspected to have been involved in a several atrocities, including an attack on a military camp in Midsayap, Cotabato in 2009 where two soldiers were killed. Intelligence reports also implicated Mr. Palty in the killing of a couple and a security guard in San Simon, Pampanga in 2015. There is no indication that Mr. Palty was plotting a terror attack in Metro Manila when he was arrested, according to Mr. Gamboa. He added that the suspected terror group member was just in hiding. — Emmanuel Tupas, PHILSTAR

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