Policewoman, husband plead not guilty to ‘Abu Sayyaf’ raps

Supt. Maria Cristina Nobleza and Reneer Dongon. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/LEO UDTOHAN – INQUIRER VISAYAS

TUBIGON, Bohol — A cold stare.

This was the response of detained Supt. Maria Cristina Brugada Nobleza to the threat made by President Duterte that he would hang every traitor in government.

“Not guilty,” she later told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Tuesday.

Nobleza and her husband Reneer Lou Dongon were brought from Camp Crame to Tubigon town, about 54 kilometers from the capital city of Tagbilaran, to attend their arraignment for charges filed at the 2nd Municipal Circuit Court on Tuesday.

Both pleaded not guilty to charges of obstruction of justice under Presidential Decree 1829 before Judge Erwin Magallano Ucat in the morning.

They also asked the court to allow them to post bail, said Inspector Fernando Peroramas, chief of the Clarin police station.  The media were not allowed to get inside the courtroom.

Peroramas said that since Nobleza and Dungon had no legal counsel, Lloyd Steven Lim from Public Attorneys Office (PAO) acted as their lawyer.

Nobleza and Dungon, who have been detained at Camp Crame in Quezon City since their arrest in April, arrived at the Tagbilaran Airport past 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

They were transported in two separate police cars and were heavily guarded.

Supt Maria Cristina Nobleza arrives at a court in Tubigon, Bohol, on June 6, 2017 for her arraignment on charges of obstruction of justice. She and her husband pleaded not guilty to charges they were aiding the Abu Sayyaf that infiltrated Bohol in April 2017. (PHOTO BY LEO UDTOHAN / INQUIRER VISAYAS)

After the arraignment, reporters interviewed Nobleza who was wearing a hijab, a veil traditionally worn by Muslim women.

“Nag-fasting ako ayaw ko magsalita (I’m fasting. I don’t want to talk),” said Nobleza, who converted to Islam when she married Dungon.

Dungon, who was also wearing a hood, refused to talk.

Nobleza said she was not allowed to speak since she has been fasting during the Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam.

INQUIRER asked Nobleza to react to a speech made by President Duterte during the 119th anniversary of the Philippine Navy in Davao City last May 31.

The President accused Nobleza of being an “active player” in the Abu Sayyaf Group that received money from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Duterte also said he would want to hang Nobleza for everyone to see.

“I will not hesitate to do if it comes to that. I will hang every traitor in the government,” Duterte said.

Nobleza didn’t respond immediately but gave a cold stare before she finally said: “Not guilty,” was her brief answer.

Nobleza and Dungon left the court at 10:49 a.m. and were brought to the Camp Francisco Dagohoy Headquarters in Tagbilaran City before taking a commercial flight back to Manila at 3:30 p.m.

Dungon and Nobleza were arrested after they refused to stop at a security checkpoint in Barangay Bacani, Clarin, Bohol, on April 22, at the time when government troopers were hunting down Abu Sayyaf members who had entered Bohol.

Three Abu Sayyaf bandits were later killed in the operation.

The police recovered medical kits, flippers and snorkeling gears, clothes, first-aid kits, food and a government-issued firearm from the suspects’ vehicle.

Police later recovered the cellular phone of Nobleza that contained text messages purportedly from one of the Abu Sayyaf members, begging to be rescued.

Two days after their arrest, police allegedly found bomb parts inside their rented apartment in Panglao town.  SFM

Reneer Lou Dongon leaves a court in Tubigon, Bohol, on June 6, 2017, after pleading not guilty to charges of obstruction of justice, together with his wife, Supt. Maria Cristina Nobleza. Dongon and Nobleza have been accused of aiding the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf in its infiltration of Bohol in April 2017. (PHOTO BY LEO UDTOHAN / INQUIRER VISAYAS)

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