THE 59 suspected members of the Maute terror group who were arrested in Zamboanga City on Monday asked the Department of Justice to dismiss the criminal charges filed against them.
During the preliminary hearing of their case the respondents, through the lawyers from the Public Attorney’s Office, denied the rebellion charges filed against them by the martial law authorities.
In other developments:
• Edmundo Ramos, a construction worker, was able to escape the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan and subsequently was rescued on Monday by government forces, according to a report reaching Camp Aguinaldo.
Rear Admiral Rene Medina, commander of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao, said his men rescued Ramos around 1 a.m. near Tapiantan Island.
Medina said Ramos was given medical aid, but that he was in good condition.
• Islamic State-inspired groups are threatening to use their hostages as suicide bombers should they be cornered, Malacañang said Friday.
“We have been receiving accounts from hostages who were able to escape from the Maute rebels in Marawi that the enemy would be using hostages as suicide bombers once they were cornered by government troops,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters.
He condemned the rebels’ plan.
The 59 respondents detained in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City denied being members of the Maute group in counter-affidavits written in Maranao and Tausug and submitted to the panel led by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong.
They were first brought to the Justice department on July 28 for inquest proceedings, but they sought more time to answer the charges and opted for a preliminary investigation that extended their period of detention.
According to the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police, 32 of the suspects were arrested at a checkpoint in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, while the rest were caught in a raid in a house in Guiwan in Zamboanga City on July 25.
In their complaint, the authorities alleged that the suspects could be reinforcements sent by the Maute Group to Marawi.
The respondents included four minors and they claimed they were members of the Moro National Liberation Front heading for a training exercise in Camp Jabal Nur in Madamba, Lanao del Sur. Seized from them were military and police uniforms.
However, the MNLF leadership has already denied their claim and said there were no scheduled training exercises in Camp Jabal Nur.
Habib Mudjahab Hashim, head of the MNLF Islamic Command Council, said they had received information on the massive recruitment activities in western Mindanao in the name of their group.