Gov’t raiders fail to find mayor linked to drugs

COTABATO CITY—A military official said the last week’s raid on the houses of two Maguindanao politicians was not an overkill, even with the use of helicopter gunships.

About 300 policemen and soldiers raided the houses of Talitay Mayor Montasir Sabal and his brother, Vice Mayor Abdulwahab, on Friday, during which two large sachets of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) and two unlicensed firearms were seized.

What was noticeable in the raid was that it started with two MG-520 attack helicopters firing rockets before the team, supported by 10 armored personnel carriers, swooped in.

As government troops entered the house of Mayor Sabal in Barangay Poblacion at 5 a.m., the helicopter gunships hovered, occasionally firing.

But Lt. Col. Markton Abo, the spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the firing of rockets was part of the clearing maneuver and was meant to ensure the safety of troops who were part of the operation.

He said the use of the government’s air assets was necessary because the Sabals were known to have armed followers.

Mayor Sabal was not in his house when government troops came. He has been in hiding since authorities first tried to arrest him in Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat province in August.

President Duterte earlier tagged the Sabals as among Maguindanao’s “narcopoliticians.”

The raiding team also searched Abdulwahab’s house, but found nothing. The vice mayor is detained in Camp Crame after his arrest on charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives in September. —EDWIN O. FERNANDEZ