Abu Sayyaf leader look-alike to file raps vs police

One-armed Anthony Gara, who on Saturday afternoon was mistaken for Abu Sayyaf leader Radulan Sahiron by government agents, threatened yesterday to sue his supposed "captors."

On the other hand, the Philippine National Police (PNP) wants to move on and credit the blunder to experience.

"It’s over. Let’s try to put that incident behind us. We have already apologized," PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil said.

In a radio interview aired over dzMM, Gara said his family and relatives are now soliciting legal support and may file charges over what he described as his illegal arrest.

Gara said he had just returned home after paying their family’s electricity bill at the barangay hall when three uniformed policemen — whose uniforms lacked badges or nametags — pounced on him.

He said his captors struck him on the head three times with their bare hands, while yelling at him that he was Sahiron and forcing him towards a waiting van.

"They loaded me inside a van like a pig," Gara said, adding that while in detention, his eyes were covered with packing tape.

Back in Manila on Saturday afternoon, jubilant military and police officials reported Sahiron’s arrest to President Arroyo who, in turn, announced that the Sulu-based bandit leader also known as "Commander Putol" had been captured in Titay, Zamboanga del Norte.

Inside the van that brought him to Dipolog City, the base of the 1st Infantry Division, Gara said his captors insisted he was Commander Putol and that he was from Basilan.

"I was never in Basilan nor in Sulu. Once I ventured in Manila and in Cebu to try a buy-and-sell business, but never in Sulu and Basilan," he said.

Gara said the interrogation only stopped and he was treated well and given food to eat after an informant who knew Sahiron well noticed that he had an amputated left arm while Sahiron had lost his right arm.

Realizing their blunder, the police released Gara and returned him to his house.

While Gara had earlier appeared to be ready to forgive, his relatives convinced him to lodge a complaint against his captors.

"My family will not let them off with just an apology. We are seeking help so we can file charges," he said in Filipino.

Gara was returned to his home Sunday night by agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 9, the team that had arrested him. The CIDG agents, backed by policemen from the Regional Special Action Force, brought Gara to Dipolog without the knowledge of the local police.

Zamboanga Sibugay provincial police director Senior Superintendent Roseller Arieta said the arresting team reported to the town’s police station before escorting Gara back to his wife at 9 p.m. Sunday.

Still at large

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Generoso Senga conceded yesterday that the real Sahiron was still at large in Sulu.

"His mass base is there. His bailiwick is there," Senga said in a chance interview with Camp Aguinaldo reporters.

PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao has already issued an apology for falsely tagging Gara as Sahiron.

Lomibao said the man police intelligence officials apprehended was a "look-alike" of the elusive Abu Sayyaf commander.

"Maybe they (police) noticed that my arm was amputated, that’s why they arrested me. They said my face was similar" to Sahiron’s, Gara said.

Police agents who apprehended Gara were members of the PNP’s special anti-terrorism unit working directly under Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Mendoza.

Senga said policemen arrested Gara without coordinating with the military.

"Based on my talk with Southern Command (chief) Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan, it was an independent operation," he said.

Lomibao said the President had accepted his apology for prematurely announcing the arrest of Sahiron, who has a standing warrant for 21 counts of kidnap for ransom and serious illegal detention in connection with the abduction of foreign tourists from Sipadan island in Malaysia in April 2000 and the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan in May 2001.

He reminded all members of the PNP to confirm all sources before making any information public to prevent embarrassment.

Lomibao defended policemen who arrested Gara, saying that the latter’s rights were not violated when he was under detention.

"These are hardworking people. They just depended too much on their asset, who had delivered before. This only served as a reminder for every operative to check and countercheck the information fed to them by their sources," he said.

Costly mistake?

Some analysts were surprised anyone could be mistaken for Sahiron, who has a bounty of P5 million and lost his right arm as a fighter for the Moro National Liberation Front at the height of the Muslim secessionist rebellion in the 1970s.

The mistakenly arrested man, Gara, is a farmer, trader and cock-fighting aficionado who lost his left arm in an accident at a rice mill.

"How can you possibly make a mistake like that? Unless they don’t even know which hand is missing," said security analyst and former Navy commodore Rex Robles.

"It could be poor intelligence or there may be a story behind it, where it is being directed not by police authorities but by Malacañang," he said.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said "even if we consider this a setback, this probably would not weaken our continued fight against terrorism."

Mrs. Arroyo had earlier gone on television to announce the arrest of Sahiron, who is viewed as a Robin Hood-style folk hero by some Muslims in Sulu.

Lawmakers, in different statements, said heads should roll over the mistaken arrest.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said apologies are not enough, and that "only the resignation of the President can assuage the national and ethnic hurt."

He said the false report about Sahiron’s capture reflects the propensity of the Arroyo administration for painting a rosy situation for the country, unsupported by facts.

Senate President Franklin Drilon said the incident may adversely affect the immediate passage of the anti-terror bill and "does not speak well of the competence" of the intelligence community.

Anakpawis party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran said the PNP and Mrs. Arroyo should indemnify Gara and his family for psychological trauma.

Beltran also said that policemen who arrested Gara should be sacked, and the PNP’s list of wrongful arrests be reviewed.

"None of the unjustly arrested civilians have been given a fair trial, much less allowed to defend themselves in a public legal venue. Most likely a review will reveal that majority, if not all the Filipinos and Muslims the PNP arrested are innocent," he said.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Benasing Macarambon said concerned PNP officials must be held accountable for feeding the President wrong information, and this blunder justifies a revamp in the police force.

"We need more competent and efficient officials to take the lead in our anti-terror campaign. It’s bad enough that we have a PNP lacking in manpower and resources, but it is worse if our police force is a failure in such basic intelligence and counter-intelligence operations," he said.

Davao City Rep. Vincent Garcia said the case of mistaken identity was inexcusable since it is standard operating procedure for the PNP to double-check reports and information involving its operators.

"We cannot afford major blunders anymore. Those policemen and officers involved in the operations should go back to schooling and training," he said. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Christina Mendez, Delon Porcalla