PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr. has commended the PNP Intelligence Group for providing the ‘intelligence packets’ which have led in the neutralization of more terrorists and other criminals across the country this year.

The top cop cited the PNP-IG for playing a major role in their aggressive campaign against terror, crime and corruption, specifically in tracking down the most wanted terrorists in order to foil any of their vicious plots.

Latest of that was a PNP-IG-led operation in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat last September 24 which resulted in the death of two wanted members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters-Karialan Faction.

PNP-IG director Colonel Romeo J. Macapaz said that the gunbattle started after the suspects sensed they were being entrapped by undercover officers along the national highway in Barangay Didtaras in Lambayong.

The Regional Intelligence Unit 11 under Col. Russel C. Maca developed the ‘intelligence packet’ that triggered the anti-gun trafficking operation.

RIU 11, with the support of officers from the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the Naval Intelligence Security Group, the RIU 12 and the Sultant Kudarat Police Provincial Office launched the sting, the official added.

During the operation, undercover operatives watched as the two motorcycle-riding suspects Abdullaziz Guiadulin Bukakong alias ‘Sankali/Mamasabulod,’ and Limudin Enged Tayan arrived to meet an agent who was buying two high-powered sniper rifles.

The two were already showing the weapons to the poseur when they sensed the ongoing sting as the poseur-buyer was checking one of the caliber 50 sniper rifle they were selling.

Immediately, Mamasabulod loaded the cal. 7.62 sniper rifle he was holding and attempted to shoot the agent prompting back-up officers to shoot him back, thus engage the firefight started.

Both were hit in their bodies and were taken to the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Hospital where an attending physician declared them dead upon arrival.

Recovered from the possession of the slain suspects were one home-made cal. 50 chambered-loaded sniper rifle, two cal. 50 live ammunition, a home-made cal. 7.62 loaded sniper rifle with a magazine containing five bullets and P5,020 in different denominations.

The police impounded the suspects’ black Yamaha NMax motorcycle without license plate.

According to the PNP-IG, Mamasabulod has long been the subject of an intelligence operation amid confirmed reports he is a member of the BIFF-Karialan Faction affiliated with the Dawlah Islamiyah-Hassan Local Terrorist Group. The terrorist group is engaged in gunrunning and selling of improvised explosive devices in the area.

The intelligence unit said that the sale of illegal guns and IEDs and extortion activities against public transport companies in Central Mindanao are among the main financial sources of the terror group.

The BIFF is an Islamist militant organization based in Mindanao. It is a breakaway group from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front known to have aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The group gained notoriety for its involvement in the infamous Marawi Siege in 2017 which ended after a five-month long gun battle between state security forces and the terrorists.

Scores of BIFF-Karialan Faction members have been killed in clashes with government troops since then.

So far this year, dozens of wanted terror and crime suspects have been accounted for by the PNP as a result of ‘intelligence packets’ provided by the PNP-IG.

Gen. Acorda gave credit to the PNP-IG for giving the accurate information which led in successful police anti-terror and anti-crime raids and other operations. The PNP-IG this year scored a ‘3-peat’ after emerging as the PNP’s Best National Operational Support Unit for three straight years since 2021.

One of the top PNP targets, identified as Fernando Dialogo alias ‘Ka Karen/Jepoy/Enkar,’ tagged as a commanding officer of the Platoon 1/Sentro de Grabidad of the New People’s Army’s Kilusang Larangang Guerilla 1 and a member of the CPP/NPA Bicol Regional Party Committee, was killed in a PNP-IG-initiated counter-terror operation in Barangay Marinas in Sorsogon City last July.

Over two dozen CPP/NPA members and supporters have also surrendered to the government following talks with PNP-IG officers. Four of them were Bicol NPA rebels who turned over three M-16 automatic rifles, an M-203 grenade launcher and three M-16 magazines with several live ammunition to the police.

“The surrender of the rebels came after they were convinced by their former colleagues to yield to the government and return to the society,” the PNP-IG reported.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon