Soldiers nab 'most wanted' siblings in NoCot

From the Philippine News Agency  (May 31, 2021): Soldiers nab 'most wanted' siblings in NoCot (By Edwin Fernandez)

ARRESTED. The wanted siblings sit as the military operatives conduct an accounting of the war materiel that were seized from them, including bomb components during a law enforcement operation in Pikit, North Cotabato on Sunday (May 30, 2021). The siblings are long wanted for a string of murder, extortion, kidnapping, and robbery charges in North Cotabato province. (Photo courtesy of 6ID)

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – Government forces arrested two "most wanted" siblings who allegedly led a private armed group during a law enforcement operation in Pikit, North Cotabato, an Army official said Monday.

Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division commander, said Monday that siblings Montukan Bungay and Walo Bungay, both leaders of the Bungay lawless group, were arrested following a six-hour gun battle on Sunday with the armed men in Barangay Bualan of the municipality.

“The gunbattle began at 7 a.m. and ended at around 1 p.m.,” Uy said, adding that the two have standing warrants for murder, extortion, kidnapping, and robbery.

“Both were listed as two of the most wanted persons in Region 12 having numerous warrants of arrest issued by local courts,” Uy said.

He said government troops under the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade (602nd IBde), backed by the local police and militiamen, engaged the lawless group in a running gun battle in the peripheries of Bualan village.

In a separate interview, Brig. Gen. Roberto Capulong, the 602nd IBde commander, said the group yielded two M16 rifles, a .45 caliber pistol, ammunition, and other war materiel.

“Our forces are in the area as part of the JTFC’s intensified combat operations against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters-Karialan faction who has been the subject of our sustained pursuit operation,” Capulong said.

Based on intelligence reports, Capulong said the Bungay brothers harbored the group of Karialan who has been evading government forces in the vast Liguasan Marsh situated in the border of North Cotabato, Maguindanao, and Sultan Kudarat provinces.

The military has also been hunting down the group of Karialan following the series of atrocities in Barangay Kitango, Datu Saudi Ampatuan last March 2021, and the failed attack at the public market of Datu Paglas, Maguindanao earlier this month.

Capulong said follow-up operations are ongoing against other members of the Bungay gang who splintered into small groups while withdrawing into the marshland.

The captured suspects are now under the custody of the Police Regional Office-12.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1142012