COTABATO CITY — The police arrested the elusive mastermind of the deadly Dec. 3, 2023 bombing of a Catholic worship rite in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur province that left four worshipers dead and injured 43 others.

Arsani D. Membisa, a member of the Dawlah Islamiya terror group, was arrested in Barangay Maria Cristina in Iligan City last Wednesday, the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) reported late Sunday.

Brig. Gen Romeo J. Macapaz, director of PRO-BAR, told reporters on Monday that Mr. Membisa, most known as “Lopitos,” was cornered in his hideout in Barangay Maria Cristina by combined agents of the Criminal and Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and personnel of the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office and the Iligan City Police Office, an operation supported by local officials privy to his presence in the area.

“Vigilant people aware of his exact location provided the information that led to his arrest,” Mr. Macapaz said.

Two cohorts of Membisa were arrested several weeks after they set off on Dec.3, 2023 a powerful improvised explosive device at the Dimaporo Gymnasium inside the campus of the Mindanao State University in Marawi City where a big group of Catholics were hearing mass, killing four worshipers and wounding 43 others.

Local executives in Lanao del Sur have confirmed that Mr. Membisa and his companions are members of the now moribund Dawlah Islamiya, which is fomenting hatred for non-Muslims and tagged in deadly bombings of buses and commercial establishments in Central Mindanao after owners had ignored extortion demands.

Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal A. Adiong, Jr. told reporters on Monday that they are grateful to police officials in region 10 and in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the CIDG for having worked out the arrest of the mastermind of the deadly bombing of Catholic worshipers more than 10 months ago.

“My administration is promoting religious solidarity among Muslims and Christians in Marawi City and in all towns in Lanao del Sur. That incident, for us, was so saddening. The bombers had been arrested and soon they shall have their day in court,” Mr. Adiong said. — John Felix M. Unson

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