Pres. Duterte’s visit boosts Bohol’s fight vs ASG

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 20): Pres. Duterte’s visit boosts Bohol’s fight vs ASG

President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to Bohol on Wednesday has sent a strong message that boosts the province’s consolidated effort in hunt for the remaining Abu Sayyaf members on the loose after last week's clash in Inabanga.

Governor Edgar Chatto said the President’s visit boosted the morale of the soldiers and the police in Bohol, as well as the entire Boholano community that faces the challenge of capturing the remaining eight ASG members led by Inabanga native, Joselito Melloria.

Melloria has survived and fled to the hinterlands of the town after the encounter with government troops on April 11.

Chatto said President Duterte’s visit to Bohol sends a strong message to those who have tried to sow terror in peace-loving Bohol and the entire nation.

The President was briefed that a concerned citizen has offered a PHP100,000 bounty for each of the ASG survivors, but the Chief Executive raised the bounty to PHP1 million each, or just for information that would lead to the capture of the bandits.

He was also informed of the initial leads that the intelligence branch of the Bohol Provincial Police obtained on Tuesday afternoon.

Chatto also said that during the closed-door meeting at the multi-purpose hall of the Philippine Ports Authority here, President Duterte ordered the military and police to exert all efforts to capture the bandits “dead or alive”.

This was reiterated by the President during an interaction with the media after the meeting.

Chatto thanked the President for standing by Bohol in this trying time and for being concerned with the security of the province and the country.

The governor noted that President Duterte made a last-minute decision in the wee hours of Wednesday to drop by Bohol in the afternoon, diverting from his official itinerary, just to get a thorough briefing on the Inabanga clash and to ensure that security arrangements are in place for the ongoing ASEAN meeting in Panglao.

The President arrived with Cabinet secretaries in tow and stayed for a few hours, during which he tackled the Inabanga incident with Chatto, Inabanga Mayor Josephine Socorro Jumamoy, National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa, National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Undersecretary for Defense Operations Cesar Yano, Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Gen. Eduardo Año, and interior department officer-in-charge Catalino Cuy.

Peace-keeping groups came in full force for the closed-door meeting where they tackled the Inabanga incident, according to Chatto.

The ASEAN coordination group was also there, led by retired Chief Supt. Josephus Angan, consultant of the ASEAN National Organizing Council. Angan represented Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr., presidential chief protocol officer and secretary general of the National Organizing Council for the ASEAN 2017 summit.

From the Bohol side, Police provincial director Felipe Natividad, 302nd Infantry Brigade commander Col. Arnulfo Matanguihan, and Tagbilaran City Vice Mayor Jose Antonio Veloso joined Chatto and Jumamoy in the meeting.

The cabinet secretaries who came with the President also attended the meeting, among them Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr., Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, and Cuy.

President Duterte stayed for a few hours in Bohol and left with his Cabinet secretaries, after seeing that security arrangements are in place.

Dela Rosa stayed in Bohol for a few more hours and proceeded to Barangay Ulbujan in Calape to visit the family of slain SWAT team member, PO1 Rey Anthony Nazareno, and confer honors on him.

Members of the Presidential Management Staff who came a day earlier had already visited the Nazareno family, bringing a bouquet of flowers and financial assistance from Malacañang.

Bato returned to Tagbilaran for dinner with the governor at the People’s Mansion and left in the evening via Cebu.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=981151