Firearms, explosives seized during arrest of Farhana Maute

ILIGAN CITY – Assorted firearms and explosives were seized during the arrest of Farhana Romato Maute, mother of terrorist leaders Omar and Abdullah, in Masiu, Lanao del Sur on Friday.

READ: Mother of Maute brothers arrested in Lanao del Sur

Chief Supt. Reuben Sindac, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao chief, said the Maute matriarch and seven other women were arrested in Barangay Tamboro Cormatan in Maisu, Lanao del Sur – about an hour by car from Marawi.

He said Farhana and the seven women were moving out of Masiu on a Toyota Revo when arrested.

Sindac said they were obviously crossing over to an area they deemed more safe.

Masiu is about 5 hours by car to Cotabato City and about the same travel time to some towns in Central Mindanao region.

Also on Friday, a teacher was “invited for questioning” after she checked in at a hotel in Cagayan de Oro City on Friday. She was released after police authorities found she was not on the list of Maute family members being sought by government, said Chief Insp. Ariel Pontillas of the Cagayan de Oro City police’s intelligence unit.

“She had been cleared,” Pontillas said. Richel Umel and Jigger Jerusalem/KS