35 alleged MNLF members arrested in Rizal province
December 28, 2020
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Monday said 35 suspected members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) were arrested in Rizal province for illegal discharge of firearms and paramilitary training.
Año said they received reports from officials of Barangay Guinayang, San Mateo that suspects, who are not residents of the area, set up camp in the upper portion of the barangay, and were seen indiscriminately discharging firearms and in a formation in what appeared to be a paramilitary training.
“This prompted combined elements of the Rizal Provincial Police Office (PPO) and the 80th Infantry Battalion (IB) to conduct a joint operation which led to the arrest of the group led by a certain Lydia Panuelo,” he said.
Año said police and army operatives caught most of the group members illegally wearing military uniforms while in formation and violating Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) guidelines on minimum health protocols such as not wearing face masks and face shields and disregarding physical distancing.
“Wearing of AFP and PNP uniforms by civilians is already a violation of the law. We will make sure that these people will be penalized,” Año said.
He said he directed barangay officials to dismantle these structures.
Brig. General Felipe Natividad, Calabarzon police chief, said a certain Deogenes Rodriguez talked to the group and promised to give P300,000 to each member after their training "prior to deployment to Mindanao".
Natividad said unlike the real members of the MNLF, they did not speak any Arabic or any Mindanao language but are mostly fluent in Tagalog.
The police and military are validating the group's alleged affiliation with the MNLF.
Año called on the public to immediately report similar incidents to the proper authorities and to refrain from joining such activities.
Recovered from the operation are two caliber 45 pistols in their possession, several ammunition, assorted army uniforms, five handheld radios and a jungle knife.
Año said suspects are detained at the San Mateo Municipal Police Station and will face cases for violation of Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act, Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act and Usurpation of Public Authority. Ella Dionisio/DMS
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