Abdul Manap Mentang (in hood and orange CIDG detainee shirt), a suspected bomber, was presented to the media here on Thursday, November 12, 2015. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
DAVAO CITY—Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has confirmed that the man arrested last Thursday by police authorities in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato was cleared of charges in 2005 in connection with the 2003 bombings at the airport and the wharf here.
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Duterte said Abdul Manap Mentang, a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), was freed from detention two months after his arrest in October 2004 under the peace talks with the rebel group.
Mentang, along with his girlfriend Monawara Usop and alleged accomplice Mursid Mubpon, was arrested and charged after the military linked them to the April 2003 Sasa wharf bombing and the Davao International Airport in April 2003.
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Duterte said the MILF had pointed out the lack of evidence against the Mentang and the other suspects in securing their release.
However, the dismissal of the charges against Mentang for lack of evidence back in 2005 did not mean he could no longer be arrested for the same crime, the mayor, who was a former government prosecutor, said.
He said for one, the warrant of arrest was still active and can be enforced anytime authorities gather new pieces of evidence against the suspect.
Senior Supt. Joel Perninto, head of the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Southern Mindanao, said aside from being a suspect in the 2003 bombings, Mentang was also an identified accused in the February 14, 2005 bombing at the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal and had been accused of murder in a court in Cotabato City.
He would face additional charges as he yielded a .45 caliber pistol and ammunition when he was arrested.
Duterte said he would insist on prosecuting Mentang this time and that all other suspects in the bombings in the city should be pursued. RAM