Main suspect in Jolo twin blasts surrenders —Albayalde

Kamah, the main suspect in the January 27 bombings at a cathedral in Jolo, Sulu, has surrendered to authorities, Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde announced on Monday.

Kamah surrendered with four other members of the Abu Sayyaf, Albayalde said.

BREAKING: Alyas Kamah, na responsable umano sa pagpaapsabog sa simbahan sa Jolo, Sulu, sumuko na kasama ang 4 na iba pang miyembro umano ng Abu Sayyaf Group — PNP chief Oscar Albayalde @dzbb pic.twitter.com/RJs9gNEC4M

— Jonathan Andal (@JonathanAndal_) February 4, 2019

"I'm pleased to announce the surrender over the weekend of Kamah L Pae and four other persons who played individual roles in the incident. The five surrendered due to the massive hot pursuit operations," Albayalde said, adding that improvised explosive device (IED) had been recovered at the residence of Kamah.

"Forced surrender itong nangyari..." he said, adding that Kamah initially surrendered to the Philippine Army during the weekend while the others surrendered to the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG).

Other suspects who have surrendered were identified as:

• Albaji Kisae Gadjali (alias Awag)
• Rajan Bakil Gadjali (alias Radjan)
• Kaisar Bakil Gadjali (alias Isal)
• Salit Alih (alias Papong)

Albayalde said multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder would be filed against the suspects before the provincial prosecutor of Sulu.

Kamah, said to be a logistician for the Abu Sayyaf's Ajang-Ajang sub-group, was seen near the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral moments before the twin blasts that killed 22 people and injured more than 100 others.

Fourteen other suspects in the bombing attacks remained at large, five of them identified as:

• Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan
• Makrim Habbisi (alias Makrim)
• Barak Ingug (alias Barak Abdulgani)
• Usman Aka Ubin
• Alias Arab Puti

According to Albayalde, Kamah denied that he was involved in the deadly explosions.

"He's not admitting anything pero 'yung mga kasama niya... has been pointing to him as the one who escorted the couple (suicide bombers). Hindi niya pwedeng -ideny 'yan saka sa bahay niya we were able to recover IED and IED components," Albayalde said.

Suicide bombing

The PNP chief said the incident was undertaken by suicide bombers, specifically an Indonesian couple who are still unidentified.

"Ang lumalabas dito pareho... the first one was detonated by apparently by the woman. Ang lumalabas dito parang ito ay mag-asawa. Kaya Indonesian because of the witnesses accounts na itong mga ito ay di marunong mag-Tausug. 'Yung salita nila ay Malay-Indonesian," Albayalde said.

"'Yung lalaki matagal na sa atin, 'yung babae medyo bago-bago... 'Yung lalaki according to sources a little more or less a year. 'Yung babae a few days ago lang," he added.

In a separate statement, Albayalde said "it is believed that the Indonesian woman detonated the first IED inside the Jolo Cathedral while the man detonated the second IED at the church entrance seconds later."

Investigators established that the suspects planned the attack beginning January 8.

Albayalde said the motive of the explosion was for the local terrorists to "get" the attention of ISIS group so that they may be provided with funds.

"This is being planned so many years back already... lalong lalo na 'yung Cathedral na 'yun..." he said.

"They do this act to get funds from ISIS... This is the very purpose bakit sila nagcoconduct ng mga barbaric, act of terror. Ginagawa na nila to para to get fun international, from ISIS," Albayalde said. —KBK, GMA News