Davao mayor says arrest of suspected Night Market bombers must lead to distmantling of terror group

From the Philippine News Agency (Oct 7): Davao mayor says arrest of suspected Night Market bombers must lead to distmantling of terror group

Presidential daughter Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio commended the authorities for the arrest of four suspects in the Roxas Night Market explosion but stressed that "their arrest must lead to the distmantling of the terror group."

The mayor issued the statement following the arrest of three alleged members of the Maute terrorist group based in Lanao Del Sur, and reportedly aligned with the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

The three are among the suspects in the September 2 explosion at the Roxas night market that killed 15 persons and wounded 69 others.

The three suspects were presented at Camp Aguinaldo Friday. They were arrested during a checkpoint operation last October 4 in Cotabato City, reports said.

Military authorities seized from them a machine gun, a .45 caliber pistol, assorted bomb-making components, cellular phones and a video clip of the actual bombing attack which he claims the terrorists are turning into a propaganda video to get support from the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) terrorists in the Middle East.

"The arrest of the suspected perpetrator of the September 2 bombing in Davao City is a welcome development to the operations of our law enforcers for their immediate capture," Sara said in a statement released to the members of the media.

While such development is commendable, the mayor vowed to expeditiously give justice to the 15 victims who died and the 69 others who were wounded in the blast.

Sara, however, emphasized on the importance of the arrest in leading to the dismantling of terror groups or result in the failure of more senseless acts of violence and extremism.

"We also need to remember that this does not end our desire to give justice to the victims and those whose lives were forever changed by that horrendous act of terrorism on the night of September 2 in our beloved city," the mayor added.

She asked the people to be vigilant and "show the world that we do not surrender to fear nor do we allow terrorism to cripple our humanity and undermine our values."

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