Ex-Sulu town vice mayor recruiting private army

MANILA, Philippines — Former vice mayor Pando Mudjasan of Maimbung, Sulu has been recruiting civilians for a private armed group that he may use for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in October, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said Mudjasan was massing support for his group, which had around 50 members when joint military and police teams conducted an operation in Barangay Bualo Lipid over the weekend.

Data from the PNP showed that there are 45 potential private armed groups in the country, 30 of them in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

At a press briefing at Camp Crame, Fajardo said Mudjasan was coddling Abu Sayyaf bandits, one of the reasons why he was disowned by the Moro National Liberation Front.

Mudjasan was a former MNLF commander.

Intelligence reports showed that Mudjasan is also protecting drug personalities.

Fajardo said a Special Action Force commando and five of Mudjasan’s supporters were killed while 14 other law enforcers were wounded in the shootout.

She said authorities were supposed to serve arrest warrants for murder and frustrated murder and a search warrant for illegal possession of firearms and explosives when the firefight occurred.

More than 6,000 villagers who fled their homes during the shootout have been sent home.

Maj. Andrew Linao, spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, said Mudjasan and his followers slipped past a police cordon and fled to the mountains.

Linao said pursuit operations by the local police are ongoing.

Meanwhile, Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan called on the MNLF to take a stand against Mudjasan and his followers.

Tan said Mudjasan’s ”audacity to drag the MNLF to his side... smells of a veiled threat to escalate the situation.” — Roel Pareño