GenSan mayor seeks stronger cooperation vs. terrorism

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 24): GenSan mayor seeks stronger cooperation vs. terrorism

GENERAL SANTOS CITY--City officials here are pushing for stronger cooperation between community stakeholders and law enforcement units in an effort to keep the city safe and secure from terrorist elements.

City Mayor Ronnel Rivera on Tuesday cited the contribution of concerned residents in the successful operation of joint security personnel here last week against an alleged top leader and “bomb-maker” of the Islamic State-inspired Maute group.

Rivera said suspect Najib Calimba Pundug alias Najib Hussein was tracked down by the police and military through “community reports and intelligence.”

Pundug, who was tagged as the number two man of the Islamic State-inspired Maute under its new leader Owaidah Abdulmajib Marohombsar alias Abu Dar, was killed in an encounter with police operatives in a house in Barangay Fatima on July 16.

The raid also led to the arrest of Abu Dar’s wife Nafisah Pundug in a follow-up operation in Purok Maunlad, Barangay Apopong.

Despite the incident, Rivera assured that the city remains safe and secure, and authorities are doing everything to maintain peace and order.

Citing intelligence reports, the mayor said there were no other monitored movements of members of the Maute and other local terror groups in the city.

"According to the information that we received, the slain Maute bomb expert was just here to visit his family," Rivera said in a statement.

The mayor acknowledged that the operation in Barangay Fatima unsettled some residents but said law enforcement units are on top of the situation.

Rivera said the police and military have sustained the red alert status in the city as a measure to protect the area against lawless elements. He noted that such alert status was based on the prevailing martial law in the entire Mindanao earlier declared by President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

The President issued the declaration in May last year due to the Marawi City siege and was eventually extended by Congress until the end of 2018.

Rivera and other city officials had supported the declaration of martial law in Mindanao and called it a necessary move in the continuing fight against terrorism.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1042453