Defense chief Lorenzana orders arrest of 125 Maute members for rebellion

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, the administrator of martial law in Mindanao, has ordered the arrest of 125 members of ISIS-inspired Maute group who laid siege to Marawi City.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) spokesperson Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin said Lorenzana issued the arrest order on Monday for the crime of rebellion.

Of the 125 Maute members, Lavin said the government has identified the full names of 95 members while 30 carry aliases.

Lavin said the NBI, as well as the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, will help in the arrest.

Under the 1987 Constitution, a person who is arrested or detained while martial law is in effect must be charged in court within three days. Otherwise, he must be set free.

"Kung ikaw ay aalis ng Mindanao at nagkasala ka na ng crime of rebellion, kahit saang parte ng bansa pwede ka arestuhin," Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said in a news conference.

"Dapat po natin aalahanin na ang crime of rebellion is a continuing offense na kahit nasaan ka, pwede kang arestuhin," he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte imposed martial law in Mindanao on May 23 following deadly clashes in Marawi City involving militants led by the Maute group whom he said were trying to establish a caliphate for international terror group ISIS.

In his order, Lorenzana said the 125 individuals must be arrested for having been identified as members/supporters/spies of the Maute group and/or Abu Sayyaf group and known as perpetrators in the killings, kidnappings and bombings in Marawi City and some parts of Mindanao.

Lorenzana added the said Maute members were responsible for sowing terror to the populace, "publicly taking arms against the duly constituted authorities, for the purpose of removing Mindanao from the territory of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines or its laws by establishing an independent Islamic State."

Meanwhile, Aguirre ordered government agents to conduct an investigation on the 18 individuals from Manila who surfaced at the NBI on Wednesday to clear themselves of involvement with the Maute group.

The group composed of men, women and children were mostly with Maute or Bandrang surnames.

They were accompanied by their legal counsel, Dalomilang Parahiman, regional director of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos in Southern Luzon.

Parahiman said those who showed up at the NBI traced their roots in Mulondo, Lanao Del Sur and have been residing in Manila for more than 30 years as law-abiding citizens.

A memorandum from the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime, however, said 13 of them were labelled as "members of the Maute clan who have in one way or the other aided and abetted in the killings and attack that recently happened in Marawi City."

"Mag-a-assess pa po ang NBI. Halimbawa, kung ang pangalan eksaktong eksakto sa nakalista dito, then more probability baka i-detain ka in compliance with the order of the martial law administrator," Aguirre said.

Aguirre said the government would provide lawyers from the Public Attorney's Office if the 27 individuals wish to avail of it. — RSJ/NB/MDM, GMA News