The Davao City Police Office confirmed that the person killed during the encounter in Lower Dampa, Magtuod, Ma-a in Davao City last Tuesday is a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group.
According to DCPO spokesperson PSI Ma. Teresita Gaspan, the intelligence group said that the deceased is known as “Bin Laden,” as one of his aliases. Until press time yesterday, however, his real identity remains unknown. No relative has claimed his cadaver which is currently in Angel Funeral Homes, according to Gaspan.
Police recovered a .38 revolver with five ammunition, blasting cap, a detonating chord, M26 fragmentation hand grenade, and three pieces of electronic chips from fallen suspect.
Gaspan said that the DCPO initially received information the presence of a suspicious persons carrying the names of “Saqdat,” “Omar” and “Bin Laden.”
On May 2, a suspicious Toyota Hilux and a red motorcycle with armed men were spotted in Bangkal around 5:00 o’clock in the afternoon. The policemen were able to catch up with the said vehicles at Purok 1-B, Lower Dampa in Magtuod, Ma-a where the shootout happened, resulting in the killing of alias Bin Laden. The remaining two suspects however eluded in the ensuing hot pursuit launched by the authorities. The search is still ongoing.
Gaspan assured that the city police are now on top of the situation in the city.
Police operatives, aided by the Task Force Davao composed of elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, are currently on high alert for ASG suspects following the arrest of Police Supt. Maria Christina Nobleza and her alleged Abu Sayyaf lover Reneer Lou Dongon in Bohol a few weeks ago.
Nobleza, it turned out, was the deputy chief of the Regional Crime Laboratory of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Region 11 based in Camp Catitipan, this city. Nobleza and Dongon were reportedly in Inabanga, Bohol to rescue ASG members holed up in a cave in an Inabanga barangay.
