Illustration by RENE ELEVERA
While his sons were holed up in war-torn Marawi after days of firefight, he was traveling in a van from Cotabato City to Tagum City for medical treatment along with his second wife, daughter and a driver for hire.
Everything was going smoothly until they reached a checkpoint in Sirawan, Davao, where soldiers recognized him as the father of Omarkhayam and Abdullah Maute, who had allied with Islamic-State group regional leader Isnilon Hapilon to lay siege to Marawi.
Seized from the van were P363,000 in cash and a gun.
He looked ill and harmless, flashing a peace sign to journalists at a police headquarters.
On Friday, police arrested Ominta Romato Maute alias Farhana, the matriarch of the Maute clan, at a checkpoint in Masiu, Lanao del Sur.
Two wounded men were also arrested.