Police arrest Maguindanao del Sur youth leader linked to terrorism

MAGUINDANAO DEL NORTE, Philippines – Police arrested on Monday, March 13, a youth leader and town councilor who ended up on the list of the most wanted persons in Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur police for alleged violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act. 

The official, 23-year-old Abdulwadud Sangki, was arrested as soon as he arrived at the Awang Airport in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte based on an arrest warrant issued by Iligan Judge Alberto Quinto on October 7, 2022.

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Sangki, who serves as a councilor and Sangguniang Kabataan Federation president in Ampatuan, was linked to the bombing of the Datu Abdullah Sangki Elementary School in Poblacion in his town during the May 9, 2022 elections.

Sangki was arrested before he could step down from a Philippine Airlines plane that came from Manila by members of the police’s Special Weapons and Tactics-Special Operations Unit (SWAT-SOU) and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in the Bangsamoro region.

The councilor had just attended the 11th Philippine Councilors’ League convention at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Sangki did not resist arrest and was taken to the headquarters of CIDG at PC Hill in Cotabato City.

Aside from being the most wanted person in the Ampatuan town police’s list, Sangki also ranked 4th on the wanted list of the police in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). 

He was charged with a crime that carries no bail recommendation.

Neither Sangki nor his lawyers have issued a statement. – Rappler.com

Ferdinandh Cabrera is an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow.