‘Bogus’ tribal group leader arrested in Surigao for usurpation of authority —CIDG

A leader of a supposed bogus tribal group was arrested in Surigao City, Surigao del Norte on Thursday morning, the Philippine National Police - Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said.

“Arrested na po si Datu Adlaw. Ongoing pa po ang documentation (Datu Adlaw has been arrested. The documentation is still ongoing),” CIDG chief Police Major General Nicolas Torre III told GMA News Online in a message.

The CIDG in a police report said Jorgeto Corpuz Santisas or “Datu Adlaw” was arrested through an arrest warrant for usurpation of authority.

Citing supposed rights to the ancestral land, Datu Adlaw allegedly padlocked some establishments for failing to pay his group identified as the Federal Tribal Government of the Philippines (FTGP), Super Radyo dzBB’s Mark Makalalad reported.

FTGP also allegedly asked for money from its members.

The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) said that FTGP is not registered as indigenous people organization in their record.

Aside from Datu Adlaw, the CIDG also found 23 suspected members and nine children in the area, including a supposed leader of the group identified as Lourdes Infante Salinas.

In January, a complaint for alarm and scandal was filed against the group for shutting down the concerned establishments.—AOL, GMA Integrated News