Jolo cops have link to drugs, ASG?

THE cold-blooded—and senseless—murder of four members of the intelligence unit of the Philippine Army by at least nine members of the Jolo, Sulu Police Office last Monday, June 29, 2020, had triggered a call in social media for investigators to delve into the possible link of the suspects to local drug syndicates or the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group.

This, after the Philippine National Police (PNP) finally released the names of the 9 local policemen whom it said were involved in the incident the PNP initially described as a “misencounter.”

The suspects’ names are: PSSG Almudzrin Hadjaruddin; PSSG Iskandar Susulan; PSSG Ernisal Sappal; PSMS Abdelzhimar Padjiri; PMSG Hanie Baddiri; PCPL Sulki Andaki; PAT Mohammad Nur Pasani; PAT Rajiv Putalan; and, PAT Alkajal Mandangan.

Their victims, on the other hand, were:  Maj. Marvin Indammog; Capt. Irwin Managuelod; Sgt. James Velasco; and, Cpl. Abdal Asula, all from the Intelligence Service Group (ISG) of the Philippine Army assigned at the 9^th ISU, 11^TH Infantry Division.

One former military chief, whose name is being withheld for the moment, agreed to the call to check on the link of the suspect-policemen to the ASG and other local bandit groups in Jolo.

He noted that during his stint in Mindanao, he had also dealt with policemen who had family and tribal links to local criminal and bandit groups.

“It is hard to assign a soldier or a policeman in his own locality; he’ll find it hard to implement the law. Worse, he’ll end up protecting his relatives who are criminals,” the source told Pinoy Exposé.

Indammog and his men are about to return to their camp after checking on information that two ‘suicide bombers’ of the ASG had been spotted in Bgy. Mauboh, Patikul.

Reports of the incident narrated that on their way back, they were flagged down at a police check point by the group of Hadjaruddin.

Both sides then agreed to proceed to the Jolo Police Office to verify the soldiers’ identity.

But the footages that came out just hours after the incident showed that Indammog and his men never get to step inside the police station.

After parking their silver Mitsubishi Montero several meters away from the Jolo Police Office, the policemen onboard a police patrol vehicle parked behind the Montero.

As Indammog, who was unarmed, was trying to strike a conversation with the policemen, he was shot repeatedly, sustaining 8 fatal gunshot wounds.

The other policemen then started shooting at the Montero with their assault rifles, killing the remaining three soldiers on board.

One footage also showed the police vehicle driving away from the crime scene while some of the policemen can be seen shooing away kibitzers.

A report to higher police headquarters by the Jolo Police Office then falsely claimed its men had an encounter with four “unidentified armed men.”

It was these chains of events– absence of provocation from the victims, the policemen’s decision to immediately run away from the crime scene and their subsequent filing of a false and misleading incident report — that triggered speculations that they are intent on killing the soldiers from the very start.

The policemen, one “theory” goes, are already aware of their victims’ identity as intelligence officers and decided to act on their own. Or did they just act on their own?

It was also noted that as a result of the incident, the hunt for the two ASG suicide bombers had been derailed and their whereabouts now unknown.

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary Eduardo M. Año however resisted calls to look into the link of the policemen to Jolo’s criminal groups or the ASG, merely telling Pinoy Exposé that “all options are open” in the ongoing investigation.

“I also don’t want to be seen as trying to influence the investigation,” said Año, adding:

“We will go where the evidence will lead us.”

At least three offices are now conducting a probe on the incident—the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on the request of the military, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) both of the PNP.

While he did not condemn the policemen, Año acknowledged personally knowing the victims dating back from the time he was head of the ISG and the AFP’s intelligence service, the ISAFP.

“I know them; they are professional intelligence officers,” he said.

It was on his retirement in October 2017 as AFP chief that Pres. Duterte appointed him as DILG secretary, with direct supervision over the PNP.