Ex-Sulu town vice mayor Pando Mudjasan recruiting potential armed group ahead of BSKE —PNP

Former Maimbung, Sulu vice mayor Pando Mudjasan has been recruiting civilians for a potential private armed group that may be used in the upcoming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE), the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Tuesday.

Interviewed on GMA Integrated News’ Unang Balita, PNP spokesperson Police Colonel Jean Fajardo said this is one of the reasons why law enforcement authorities conducted an operation against Mudjasan last Saturday.

“Naglunsad nga po ng law enforcement operation ang pinagsanib na puwersa ng PNP at [Armed Forces of the Philippines] dahil na-monitor po natin na nagre-recruit na po ito ng mga armed civilian,” she said.

(The joint forces of the PNP and AFP launched the law enforcement operation because we monitored he was already recruiting armed civilians.)

“At ito ay kina-classify na natin na potential armed groups na pinaniniwalaan natin na maaaring magamit sa papalapit nga pong BSKE,” she added.

(And we already classify it as a potential armed group that, we believe, may be used in the upcoming BSKE.)

In May, the PNP said it is monitoring 48 private armed groups, including three active groups and 45 potential groups, in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Bicol, Western Visayas, Caraga, Cordillera, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Fajardo said Mudjasan allegedly has around 50 followers.

Aside from serving arrest warrants for murder to Mudjasan, Fajardo said authorities were also supposed to implement search warrants against the former vice mayor over supposed illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

A firefight broke out between state forces and Mudjasan's group during the operation but authorities failed to arrest the former official. The firefight left six people dead, two of them perishing while undergoing treatment.

“Isa po namatay sa government side, 'yung Special Action Force trooper po, and five sa enemy side po (One fatality was reported from the government side, a Special Action Force trooper, and five from Mudjasan’s side),” Fajardo told GMA News Online in a message.

More than 6,000 Maimbung residents who were evacuated for their safety during the shootout have been sent home, according to Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan on Monday. —KBK, GMA Integrated News