PNP chief takes fall for Sahiron blunder; military says Janjalani back in Basilan

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao said yesterday he is taking full responsibility for the arrest of a man mistakenly thought to be a top leader of the bandit Abu Sayyaf group over the weekend.

Lomibao said he would not order an investigation into the incident, which had prompted President Arroyo to tout the arrest late Saturday.

"I accept full responsibility for the failure," he said. "The agents that we have used here have delivered in the past. If they committed a mistake then we will try (to do) better next time."

Lomibao said the President has accepted his apology for telling her that a police intelligence team had captured Radulan Sahiron, one of the top Abu Sayyaf leaders who is wanted on 21 counts of kidnapping and murder.

Police had actually apprehended Antonio Gara, a man said to look like Sahiron.

Sahiron remains at large.

Lomibao reminded all policemen to carefully verify all their sources before releasing any information to the public.

But the PNP chief defended his men in the arrest of Gara. He also assured the public that Gara’s civil rights were not violated after his wrongful arrest.

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

The President earlier announced the arrest of Sahiron, alias Commander Putol, during her weekly television show over the weekend.

The President said Sahiron, who carries a P5-million bounty on his head, was collared Saturday afternoon but she did not say where the bandit leader had been apprehended.

The supposed bandit leader was to be presented at Malacañang before the media until Lomibao admitted to the blunder.

Calling the mistake an "unintentional lapse," Lomibao admitted Gara was captured in Sulu by a special police intelligence unit under by Senior Superintendent Rodolfo "Boogie" Mendoza.

Sahiron is believed part of the gang of bandits that raided the plush dive resort in Palawan in 2001 and kidnapped American nationals Guillermo Sobero, Martin and Gracia Burnham and other Filipino tourists.

In a related development, security forces are now back scouring Basilan following reports that Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafi Janjalani and his men are again hiding in the dense jungles of the island province.

This developed as Hilarion del Rosario Santos III, the arrested leader of the Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM), admitted Janjalani and his men proceeded back to their former stronghold in Basilan from the jungles of Central Mindanao.

"The Abu Sayyaf group, particularly the leadership of Khaddafi Janjalani, whom we have been operating against in order to capture him, had been reported to have left Central Mindanao and (are) now somewhere in Basilan islands group," Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan said yesterday.

Adan stressed they are still confirming the information supplied by Santos on the movements of Janjalani before advising security forces hunting for the bandit leader and his men.

Santos was captured by security forces in Zamboanga City last Oct. 25 along with other suspects.

According to Adan, the information was part of the disclosure of Santos who admitted meeting with Janjalani sometime in October last month in Central Mindanao.

Adan conceded they are at a loss as to how Janjalani was able to slip past the military cordon and reenter Basilan.

It may be possible, Adan said, that the bandits broke into small groups to slip into Basilan.

Adan said there are reports that Janjalani is traveling with about two dozen armed escorts.

He also said they are checking reports that two Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, are with Janjalani.

Dulmatin and Umar Patek are tagged as key suspects in the deadly 2002 bombing in which 202 tourists, mostly Australians and Europeans, were killed in Bali, Indonesia.

Adan said the JI militants and the Abu Sayyaf have been given refuge by rogue guerrilla leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Some of these guerrilla leaders have been suspended by the MILF central committee for providing support and haven to members of the terrorist groups amid ongoing peace negotiations with the government.

"The action of the MILF leadership (in suspending the rogue leaders) has constricted the world of the Abu Sayyaf and its terrorist cohorts," Adan said.

The Abu Sayyaf is included in the list of foreign terror organizations by the US government which recently offered millions of dollars in reward for the capture of its leaders. — With Roel Pareño