Palace welcomes arrest of Marwan widow

February 26, 2018

Malacanang welcomed on Monday the arrest of the widow of Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, in Lanao del Norte.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the arrest of  Juromee Dongon and her four relatives, including his brother-in-law who is a police officer, was "an important step" in fighting the terrorists.

"We are grateful with their arrest," he said.

Dongon and Senior Police Officer 4 Andy Atta were among those five arrested in separate operations in Lanao del Norte on Sunday where authorities confiscated grenade, materials for making bombs, guns and pieces of ammunition.

With the arrest of a policeman, Roque said the Philippine National Police has been conducting a continuing effort to clean the agency of its rogue members.

Marwan was the subject of a clandestine police operation in January 2015 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

While the terrorist bombmaker was killed, 44 police commandos were also slain by the lawless groups and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front while they were withdrawing from the operation. Celerina Monte/DMS