A SUSPECT in the October 23 explosion that killed a rubber plantation worker in Sumisip, Basilan, has voluntarily surrendered to authorities, the military said Saturday, November 1.
Lieutenant Colonel Gerwin Maghuyop, 32nd Infantry Battalion (32IB) commander, said the suspect surrendered around 4 p.m. Friday, October 31, at the headquarters of the battalion in Tumahubong, Sumisip.
Maghuyop did not release the identity of the suspect pending further investigation. The suspect turned over a caliber .45 pistol.
“The investigation revealed that the surrenderer was an active participant during the bombing incident and served as a lookout and guide, identifying and pointing out areas where rubber tappers were conducting their tapping operations prior to the attack,” Maghuyop stated in his report.
He said the surrender of the suspect was made possible through the relentless intelligence operations and community engagement efforts of the intelligence operatives of the 32IB, which encouraged the subject to peacefully yield to authorities.
John Roy Alvarez was killed when a bomb exploded near the place where he was working at a rubber plantation in Barangay Mangal, Sumisip, around 7:30 a.m. on October 23.
Alvarez had been working for about eight years as a rubber tapper of the Mangal Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development Cooperative (Marbedco).
The police of Sumisip town arrested two suspects 10 hours after the incident, the motive of which is related to an internal conflict in Marbedco.
Meanwhile, Maghuyop said that after the suspect surrendered on Friday, intelligence operatives of the 32IB conducted a custodial debriefing to extract relevant information regarding his role in the bombing incident and his possible connections with other perpetrators and sympathizers.
Maghuyop said the information gathered will be vital in supporting ongoing investigations and future security operations in the area of Sumisip municipality. (SunStar Zamboanga)