Maute patriarch, 3 others now in BJMP custody

FILE: A Mitsubishi L-300 FB Prisoner Transport Vehicle in Tacloban. (Photo by Ominae – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.)

MANILA — The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) on Thursday confirmed that Cayamura Maute, 67, the patriarch of the Maute brothers, and three others are now in their custody.

“I can confirm that they are now in our custody but I cannot give further details this time muna,” said BJMP spokesman Xavier Solda.

The BJMP is an attached agency of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Cayamura was arrested by the Joint Task Force Davao, together with his four companions identified as Kongan Alfonso Balawag, the third wife of Cayamura; his daughter Norhayna Maute; the husband of Norhayna, Benzarali Tingao; and their driver Aljon Salazar Ismael in a checkpoint in Barangay Sirawan, Toril District, Davao City last Tuesday morning.

Ismael remains in the custody of the Davao City police.

Authorities said that Cayamura should be transferred from Davao City for fear that he might be rescued by his colleagues, especially so that the crisis in Marawi City is now on its 16th day.

Omar and Abdullah Maute, the leaders of the Maute terrorist group, together with Isnilon Hapilon of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), took siege of Marawi City last May 23.

This prompted President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to declare Martial Law in the entire Mindanao region on the night of May 23, 2017.