Police official received help from tourist cops

Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Dionardo Carlos yesterday said that several tourist police in Bohol denied any knowledge of the alleged ties of Supt. Maria Christina Nobleza with the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

"They came out and they said that they were only requested to assist sa pagkuha ng (to secure a) billeting area," Carlos said.

The tourist police personnel, who are members of the Bohol Tourist Police Unit, said Nobleza asked them to help her find a place to stay.

"They knew Nobleza was a senior officer, so they helped her,” he said in Tagalog.

According to the police personnel, Nobleza told them that she and her companions were tourists in the area.

Background

On April 22, Nobleza was arrested together with Abu Sayyaf member Renier Dongon and his mother, after they drove past a police checkpoint in Clarin, Bohol.

Authorities said Nobleza, who was the deputy chief of Davao Police Crime Laboratory Unit at the time of her arrest, has been in a romantic relationship with Dongon, who was among those responsible in the 2012 bombing of Maxandrea Hotel in Cagayan De Oro City that killed two people.

Based on the text messages recovered in Nobleza's phone, they were on their way to rescue an Abu Sayyaf member wounded due to an encounter with the government troops in Clarin town.

Police then conducted a raid in the rented apartment of Nobleza and Dongon in Barangay Looc, Panglao, Bohol, and found items that can be used to make explosives.

From Bohol, Nobleza and Dongon were transferred to Camp Crame where the two are undergoing tactical interrogation.