Narco-politicos are also local warlords

When broadcast Friday, the name of the narco-politico rang a bell. Mohammad Ali Aboh Abinal, ex-mayor of Marantao, Lanao del Sur, surrendered to PNP Dir. Gen. Bato dela Rosa. He admitted to being a narco-trafficker. At once I remembered having written about him, when he was still in office. It was about his amassing of war weapons, courtesy ironically of the military. The government might wish to study Abinal’s case. It could help eliminate warlords and enforce gun control, especially in strifetorn Mindanao.

Abinal and kinsman Mamaulan Abinal Mulok, mayor of adjacent Maguing town, gave up together. They had learned of being in President Rody Duterte’s wanted list of local officials in the narco-trade. Their confessed area of operation is Quiapo, Manila, where many fellow-Maranaos live, work, and worship. Abinal’s wife is now the mayor of Marantao, having “succeeded” him dynastically when he was termed out last June.

There could be more narco-trafficking warlords out there. The day after Mayor Rolando Espinosa of Albuera, Leyte, gave up to dela Rosa earlier last week, a gun battle ensured at his fortified residence. Local cops reported to have slain six of his heavily armed henchmen; a dozen others escaped. Duterte disclosed the full wanted list on television past midnight Sunday (see http://news. abs-cbn.com/video/focus/08/06/16/watchdutertereads- list- of- vip- drug- suspects). Some names there may have surprised the public, but others were long murmured to be drug and private army lords. Duterte ordered their police and soldier-bodyguards to disengage and report at once to their mother units.

*** Following is my report about Abinal (“Mindanao gun control impossible; here’s why,” Gotcha, 3 Nov. 2013):

“Civil officials may not keep guns, except if duly licensed. Politicos nonetheless retain private armies – with tacit consent of the military. Army field officers cover up for them, without the knowledge of higher-ups.

“On Mar. 30, 2013, the ARMM police served a search warrant on the house of Mohammad Ali Aboh Abinal. The target being the mayor of Marantao, Lanao del Sur, the cops were extra careful. The region’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group first cleared the matter with GHQ, which secured the warrant. Before commencing they hailed three barangay officers and the mayor’s lawyers to witness the search.

“Seven firearms were unearthed: a 7.62mm light machinegun, a 7.62mm (M14) rifle, two 5.56mm (M16) rifles, a .22-caliber rifle, and Magnum-.357 and .45-caliber pistols.

“Also found were thousands of rounds of ammo, magazines, and firearm accessories. Oddest were nine 40mm recoilless rifle high explosives, and two .50-caliber machinegun cover plates.

“Mayor Abinal was to be arrested for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. But Lanao Gov. Mamintal Alonto Adiong took him into personal custody.

“The cops rushed their catch to the Firearms & Explosives Division. The PNP’s firearms registrar noted damning details. The 5.56mm Elisco and .22-cal. rifles, once licensed to civilian owners, were wanted due to years of nonrenewal. The .45-cal. pistol is registered with Mayor Abinal till 2016. There were no records of the four others, thus loose and confiscable.

“On inquest two days later, Provincial Prosecutor Osop Abas found probable cause, to which his chief Sultan Basari Mapupuno agreed. Court charges were filed in Marawi City, with Insp. Jovit Culaway and his policemen as complainants and witnesses.

“Two weeks later Mayor Abinal alleged to the justice department’s regional office bias by Mapupuno, without explanation. ARMM regional fiscal Ramy Lawi Guiling posted his assistant Condara-an Mambering to review the case.

“Mambering in Aug. dismissed the rap. Purportedly the warrant was faulty, despite issuance by a competent court. The search too supposedly was wrongful, despite the presence of Mayor Abinal’s two lawyers and barangay men. The evidence was deemed illegally obtained.

“Mambering declared the firearms, ammo, and parts to be duly listed with the Army, specifically the 103rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, based in the ARMM. The six wanted and loose firearms supposedly were issued to six militiamen, covered by memorandum receipts (MRs) signed by a mere sergeant.

“Allegedly the ordnance merely was placed in the house of Mayor Abinal for safekeeping, every time the six militiamen were off-duty. This was under a supposed memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the 103rd Brigade and Mayor Abinal.

“Mambering wanted the ordnance returned to Abinal. Inspector Culaway refused, as the case was pending in court. Any irregularity in the warrant or the search was for the court to decide. The validity of the MRs and the MOA – which were never shown to the cops during the Mar. 2013 search or in Mayor Abinal’s June 2013 counter-affidavit – was uncertain.

“Col. Glenn Macasero, as 103rd Brigade commander, asked the PNPARMM to return the ordnance. Again Culaway refused.

“In Nov. 2013 ARMM police head Chief Supt. Noel delos Reyes wrote Macasero for copies of the MRs and the MOA. He felt suspicious. Why would the 103rd Brigade need to deposit military ordnance – including recoilless (bazooka) rounds – in a civilian home for safekeeping, when it had its own secure armory? To this day, a year later, Macasero has yet to oblige delos Reyes’ request.

“Delos Reyes also wrote then-AFP chief Gen. Emmanuel Bautista. He wanted to verify the military’s ownership of the ordnance as claimed in (the) MOA, but never got a reply.

“All this delos Reyes summarized in a report to Justice Sec. Leila de Lima. Parties are moving to get the court to accept the MRs and MOA.

“Research shows that senior military officers may sign MOAs with civil officials, only under stringent rules. A brigade commander must seek consent from the division chief, who in turn must consult the Army head. Final approval can only be by the Secretary of National Defense. All military dealings outside the department must have SND approval.

“The PNP’s mission is to uphold the rule of law. For reasons only they know, military field officers can thwart that goal. That’s why the Ampatuans came to absolute power in the ARMM. Delos Reyes knows it, for he was among the officers who investigated the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.”

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The Lanao ex-mayor was able to amass long arms courtesy ironically of the local military commander.