The body of Abu Sayyaf leader Joselito Melloria has been recovered inside a cave in Barangay Bacani, Clarin town, Bohol where the bandit group was believed to have stayed after they were pursued by government troops. Photo by Leo Udtohan/INQUIRER VISAYAS
CEBU CITY—It was thanks to a habal habal (motorcycle for hire) driver that the police and the military learned of the presence of two Abu Sayyaf Group members in Clarin, the town adjacent to Inabanga in Bohol.
The two were among the eight fighters of the bandit group who managed to escape from government troops responding to a siege on April 11 that killed six of their comrades, according to Clarin deputy police chief SPO4 Romeo Petecio.
READ: Hunt on for Abu Sayyaf bandits in Bohol clash
As of this writing, the firefight in Clarin is still ongoing, with at least one of them was reported to have been killed.
Petecio, in an interview over dyLA Cebu, said the habal habal driver alerted the town police at around 7 a.m. that two disheveled men, both around 25 to 30 years old, rode his motorcycle in Barangay Bacani of the town.
Soldiers are hunting down the remaining six Abu Sayyaf members who have fled to Barangay Bacani, Clarin town, Bohol after their leader, Joselito Melloria and another member were killed. Photo by Leo Udtohan/INQUIRER VISAYAS
He said he immediately suspected that they could be some of the ASG remnants the police and military were hunting as they were speaking in mix dialects and smelled a lot as though they had not taken a bath in ages.
READ: Hunt for Abus in Bohol clash reaches Cebu island
The body of Abu Sayyaf leader Joselito Melloria has been recovered by the military following a clash in Barangay Bacani, Clarin Bohol on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Provincial Administrator Alfonso AE Damalerio
The two men asked to be brought to the adjacent town of Tubigon because they wanted to buy bread. The driver then suggested that it would be better to buy the bread in the town center of Clarin since it was closer.
According to Petecio, the driver waited for the two men who bought around P400 worth of bread and brought them back to Bacani.
From there, the habal habal driver proceeded to the town police station and told them about the two men he drove to Bacani.
The Clarin police alerted the Bohol Provincial Police Office, which, in turn immediately coordinated with the military.