DILG: 35 alleged MNLF members arrested in Rizal

Joint police and military forces arrested 35 people who claimed to be members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Rizal for allegedly engaging in illegal paramilitary training.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Monday the suspects were illegally discharging firearms, wearing military uniforms, and violating COVID-19 safety precautions by not wearing face masks, face shields, and disregarding physical distancing.

He said the joint operation was prompted by reports from officials of Barangay Guinayang in San Mateo that non-residents in the area had set up camp in the upper part of the barangay and were seen "indiscriminately discharging firearms and in a formation in what appeared to be a paramilitary training."

Operatives recovered two caliber .45 pistols, ammunition, assorted Army uniforms, five handheld radios, and a jungle knife from the group, the Department of the Interior and Local Government said.

Año said the group was allegedly led by a certain Lydia Panuelo.

He said he has ordered local officials to dismantle the "illegal structures" erected by the group.

Calabarzon police chief Police Brigadier General Felipe Natividad said those arrested did not speak Arabic or any Mindanao language "unlike the real members of the MNLF" but were mostly fluent in Tagalog.

The police and the military are validating their alleged affiliation with the MNLF.

Natividad also said that a certain Deogenes Rodriguez had reportedly talked to the group and promised to give P300,000 to each member after their training "prior to deployment to Mindanao".

The suspects are now detained at the San Mateo Municipal Police Station and will face criminal complaints before the local prosecutor's office.

Año urged the public to report similar incidents to the proper authorities.

“Sa ating mga kababayan, maging mapanuri po tayo sa mga sasalihang grupo. Huwag po basta-basta maengganyo sa mga pangako ng mga nanghihikayat na grupo,” he said.—AOL, GMA News