TAGUM CITY, Philippines -- The two Filipinos arrested with an Indonesian national suspected of having links with the international terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in Davao Oriental over the weekend are from a decent, esteemed family, their neighbors and local officials said.

Indarat Generoso and his son Mohar were arrested with Indonesian national Mohamad Baehaqi in the village of Piso in Banaybanay town on Sunday.

Ismael Lamaran, the village chair of Piso, recounted how he and Mohar played with other boys before and after class in their elementary days.

"We used to play even with the Christian boys," Lamaran said, stressing tolerance to people of other faiths has always been evident in Mohar's personality.

The two boys studied in the village's Hadji Aton Bangal Elementary School, and in spite of their age difference, Lamaran said he and Mohar had shared childhood and school moments many times.

They parted ways after graduating in high school though, and according to the acknowledged leader of the village's about 2,000 residents, he hasn't seen Mohar for quite a time.

He said he was "shocked" upon learning about the arrest on Sunday.

Lamaran said he immediately went to the Generoso house in Campangan district to check but was prevented to enter the house by a uniformed soldier who pointed a rifle at him.

He said 20 other troops, some in civilian clothes, surrounded the residence and neighboring houses while the Generoso house "was vigorously searched."

Intelligence operatives from the Armed Forces arrested the Generosos and Baehaqi, who goes by the aliases of Latif, Salman and Tatoh and who according to military officials was behind some of the deadliest terror attacks in Mindanao in recent years, including the October 10, 2006 bombing in Makilala, North Cotabato that left many dead.

Mayor Pedro Mejos said he knows the Generosos because Idarat works for the community environment and natural resources office in neighboring Lupon town.

"Idarat is a good man. So is his son (Mohar)", Mejos said.

He said he could not say if the younger Generoso has been involved in sinister activities.

Mejos said he was even surprised when Lamaran had informed him about the raid, though he admitted "you can not really monitor every activity of each of the residents."

Lamaran said he knew Mohar as a "very religious man."

He said Mohar studied in an Islamic school in Baguio City and pursued further Islamic theology in an institution in Sudan.

In an interview with reporters, Mejos said despite the incident, his town is "by and large generally peaceful."

He said Banaybanay is a peace-loving community where Christians and Muslims work harmoniously.

"Even in local government, leadership is evenly divided among Christians and Muslims, mostly of Kalagan and Tausug tribes," he said.