DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao del Norte (MindaNews / 13 March) — Police operatives arrested a 23-year-old councilor from Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur inside a plane that just landed at the Cotabato Airport here around noon Monday for alleged violation of Republic Act No. 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
The suspect was identified as Abdulwadud Sangki, tagged as the police’s top most wanted person in Ampatuan town and the fourth most wanted person in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Swarmed by operatives of the elite Special Weapons and Tactics- Special Operations Unit and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-BARMM, Sangki was collared before he could disembark from a Philippine Airlines flight from Manila that arrived at the Cotabato Airport, also known as the Awang Airport, at 11 a.m.
Sangki is the president of the municipal Sangguniang Kabataan Federation, making him an ex-officio member of the Sangguniang Bayan of Ampatuan town.
He was bound for home after joining the 11th Philippine Councilor’s League 2023 National Convention held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City from March 9 to 11.
He did not resist arrest and went with the authorities for custody at the headquarters of the CIDG-BARMM at PC Hill in Cotabato City.
Sangki was among several suspects implicated in an alleged bombing incident during the May 9, 2022 national and local elections at the Datu Abdullah Sangki Elementary School in Poblacion Ampatuan.
The offense is not bailable.
The case against Sangki and the others was filed before the 12th Judicial Region – Regional Trial Court Branch 1 presided by Judge Alberto Quinto in Iligan City.
So far, the suspect or his lawyer has not issued a statement on his arrest. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)
