Bomb, guns seized in Sultan Kudarat raid

LUTAYAN, Sultan Kudarat -- Joint Army and police forces raided a house on this town on Sunday, May 6, and seized war materiel, including an improvised bomb and bomb-making components from a rebel’s home, a military official said.

Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc, Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion commander, who led the operation, said Lasian Manibpel, the subject of the search warrant, managed to escape towards a nearby forest when police and soldiers, backed by armored personnel carrier, swooped down on the village of Sisiman around 3 a.m. on Sunday.

“The suspect retreated to the mountains after sensing the arrival of the government troops. He is an alleged member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) based on the recovered identification card inside the house,” Cabunoc said.

Government forces recovered from Manibpel’s house rifle grenades, an M16 rifle, two shotguns, and a bandolier with M16 rifle magazines.

Thirty persons were apprehended in connection with the raid on Manibpel’s house but were later released to village chair Sandiale Mando after a thorough investigation.

The joint operation was conducted following the April 29 bombing in Koronadal City that left two persons injured.

Senior Superintendent Nestor Salcedo, the police provincial director of South Cotabato, said the recovered improvised bomb

has similar components with the bombs that were detonated in Koronadal City.

An explosive ordnance disposal specialist said the bomb components include nails, electrical wires, and cellphone triggering device,” Salcedo said.

“There is a possibility that the bomb maker is the same as the one who fabricated the bombs (that exploded) in Koronadal,” the police official said.

Lutayan residents had opposed occupation by MILF forces in January last year that led to the murder of a local resident, Sultan Kudarat Governor Pax Mangudadatu said.

“There is no recognized MILF camp in Sultan Kudarat especially in my hometown in Lutayan. I will formally write a complaint against the presence of an armed group here because it violates the GPH-MILF Joint Ceasefire Agreement,” Pax Mangudadatu said following the raid.

Cabunoc said a complaint will be lodged before the Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) tasked to monitor ceasefire violations between government forces and the MILF.

The discovery of weapons and the presence of bomb-making materials inside Manibpel’s house, he said, was a violation of the ceasefire agreement. (PNA)