Guards said he resembled terror suspect: Police invite, free Pareja look-alike
May 18, 2006 | 12:00am
A man who closely resembles suspected terrorist leader Dino Amor Rosalejos Pareja alias Mohammad Khalil Pareja was brought to the Cebu City Police Office for questioning yesterday morning, but was later released after they verified the authenticity of his identity.
The 23-year-old Maranao, Sayif Saumay, was invited for questioning after security guards at Pier 4 raised the alarm about the presence of a man, who closely resembled Pareja, who is believed to the new leader of the Rajah Sulaiman Movement (RSM) whose picture was published in local newspapers yesterday. Saumay is a native of Marina-on, Marawi City, Lanao del Sur and presently resides at Iba, barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.
Saumay, who also sports long hair and with a light physical build, looks like Pareja on the pictures that have been circulated to authorities around the country.
He told reporters yesterday that he only finished grade 3 at their place in Marawi. Pareja, on the other hand, studied in Cebu and completed his elementary education at the Basak Elementary School in Mandaue, high school at University of the Philippines Cebu College, and went to the University of San Jose-Recoletos for his college education.
Saumay said that a security guard invited him to go to their office and told him that he looked like Pareja, who is believed to be the local contact of two suspected terrorists, who died in a shootout with policemen Thursday last week. The two reportedly left a box containing an improvised explosive device near an entrance of a mall at the North Reclamation Area.
Saumay explained that he was waiting for a boat bound for Ozamis City since he wanted to go there and visit his siblings.
His explanation sounded suspicious to the guards since there are no boats leaving for that southern city in the mornings, prompting them to call the police. The Maritime Police responded to the call then turned Saumay over the Mobile Patrol Group, which brought him to the CIIB.
Saumay was brought to the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau office at about 11 a.m. What also caused the suspicion was the fact that Saumay, who said he was about to travel, did not have any baggage or a ticket in his person. He only had a cellular phone, which he claimed was only borrowed from a friend, who he refused to name, and E-1 and E-4 forms of the Social Security System, which had the names of two different people residing in Talisay City.
He claimed that he only found the forms and brought them with him.
He also had a black wallet containing various automated teller machine (ATM) cards, which were under the names of several people, and P1,600 cash.
Meanwhile, PRO-7 director C/Supt. Eduardo Gador told reporters yesterday that Pareja was the person who reportedly called up Cebu Eternal Homes last Saturday inquiring about the bodies of Ali Usop and Datu Neil Ulama, who were the two suspected bombers killed in the shootout.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has reported that the two slain terror suspects were positive of powder burns.
Gador said that they were able to trace the call and identified Pareja as the caller. The regional police chief, however, said that Pareja has already fled Cebu.
He added that the police have been hot on the tracks of Pareja and also Usop and Ulama, who have been identified as members of the RSM.
The police are still gathering more evidence to link Pareja to the two slain alleged bombers so they can also file a case against him.
Gador, who will be turning over command of the PRO-7 to Chief Supt. Silverio Alarcio, Jr. today in preparation for his retirement on May 23, said "terrorist cause alarm and there is a need for vigilance." He added that it is better to bring news like this out so the public will be informed.
The police official also told the people not to panic since this will mean the terrorists are successful. Pareja is believed to be the new leader of the RSM following the arrest of the group's founder, Hilarion del Rosario Santos III alias Ahmad Santos, in Zamboanga City last October.
He was born in Sariaya, Quezon on July 19, 1981. From Quezon, the family then moved to barangay Tabok, Mandaue City.
Cebu City South District Rep. Antonio Cuenco has volunteered to give up his P 60 million Countrywide Development Fund, which is popularly known as pork barrel, for the acquisition of the much-needed security equipment for the Port of Cebu.
Cuenco made this offer after learning that Cebu's port is considered an easy target for terrorist attacks because of the lack of capability to detect explosives. Port security officials admitted the other day that they have no capability to detect explosives inside the container vans due to the lack of x-ray machines and vapor analyzers to do it.
The admission came in spite of the fact that Cebu has been declared International Ship and Port Facility Security Code compliant by the International Maritime Organization. The Cebu port failed reportedly has not acquired the needed equipment because they are very expensive.
Cuenco said that the purchase of such equipment is a priority due to the Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) Summit set here this December. He said that government infrastructure projects can be postponed and the money can be used for this immediate need instead.
The congressman also urged the national government to utilize the unclaimed prizes at the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) for the purchase of the security equipment. He said that he will personally ask President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo about it.
The other Cebuano congressmen however refused to give up their CDF for the purpose.
Rep. Raul del Mar said that while he agree that it is very important to acquire the equipment, he could not just give up his CDF this year because it has already been committed to different infrastructure projects.
But, del Mar said he is willing to give up his CDF for next year if necessary.
Second district Rep. Simeon Kintanar on the other hand said that he will never give up his CDF because it is for his constituents.
" Dili man na ako sa mga tawo man na, unsaon man nako og paninglan ko sa mga projects sama sa water system," Kintanar told DYLA.
Port facilitation security officer Oscar Lopez of the Office of the Transportation Security earlier said they lack the sophisticated equipment to detect bombs and other explosive devices that would be possibly sneaked into the ports.
Although they have installed walk-through detectors and x-ray machines at the passengers terminal for domestic vessels, Lopez said they could not give 100 percent assurance of the passengers' safety because the security measures does not cover the cargo inside the container vans. - Norvie S. Misa
The 23-year-old Maranao, Sayif Saumay, was invited for questioning after security guards at Pier 4 raised the alarm about the presence of a man, who closely resembled Pareja, who is believed to the new leader of the Rajah Sulaiman Movement (RSM) whose picture was published in local newspapers yesterday. Saumay is a native of Marina-on, Marawi City, Lanao del Sur and presently resides at Iba, barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.
Saumay, who also sports long hair and with a light physical build, looks like Pareja on the pictures that have been circulated to authorities around the country.
He told reporters yesterday that he only finished grade 3 at their place in Marawi. Pareja, on the other hand, studied in Cebu and completed his elementary education at the Basak Elementary School in Mandaue, high school at University of the Philippines Cebu College, and went to the University of San Jose-Recoletos for his college education.
Saumay said that a security guard invited him to go to their office and told him that he looked like Pareja, who is believed to be the local contact of two suspected terrorists, who died in a shootout with policemen Thursday last week. The two reportedly left a box containing an improvised explosive device near an entrance of a mall at the North Reclamation Area.
Saumay explained that he was waiting for a boat bound for Ozamis City since he wanted to go there and visit his siblings.
His explanation sounded suspicious to the guards since there are no boats leaving for that southern city in the mornings, prompting them to call the police. The Maritime Police responded to the call then turned Saumay over the Mobile Patrol Group, which brought him to the CIIB.
Saumay was brought to the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau office at about 11 a.m. What also caused the suspicion was the fact that Saumay, who said he was about to travel, did not have any baggage or a ticket in his person. He only had a cellular phone, which he claimed was only borrowed from a friend, who he refused to name, and E-1 and E-4 forms of the Social Security System, which had the names of two different people residing in Talisay City.
He claimed that he only found the forms and brought them with him.
He also had a black wallet containing various automated teller machine (ATM) cards, which were under the names of several people, and P1,600 cash.
Meanwhile, PRO-7 director C/Supt. Eduardo Gador told reporters yesterday that Pareja was the person who reportedly called up Cebu Eternal Homes last Saturday inquiring about the bodies of Ali Usop and Datu Neil Ulama, who were the two suspected bombers killed in the shootout.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has reported that the two slain terror suspects were positive of powder burns.
Gador said that they were able to trace the call and identified Pareja as the caller. The regional police chief, however, said that Pareja has already fled Cebu.
He added that the police have been hot on the tracks of Pareja and also Usop and Ulama, who have been identified as members of the RSM.
The police are still gathering more evidence to link Pareja to the two slain alleged bombers so they can also file a case against him.
Gador, who will be turning over command of the PRO-7 to Chief Supt. Silverio Alarcio, Jr. today in preparation for his retirement on May 23, said "terrorist cause alarm and there is a need for vigilance." He added that it is better to bring news like this out so the public will be informed.
The police official also told the people not to panic since this will mean the terrorists are successful. Pareja is believed to be the new leader of the RSM following the arrest of the group's founder, Hilarion del Rosario Santos III alias Ahmad Santos, in Zamboanga City last October.
He was born in Sariaya, Quezon on July 19, 1981. From Quezon, the family then moved to barangay Tabok, Mandaue City.
Cuenco made this offer after learning that Cebu's port is considered an easy target for terrorist attacks because of the lack of capability to detect explosives. Port security officials admitted the other day that they have no capability to detect explosives inside the container vans due to the lack of x-ray machines and vapor analyzers to do it.
The admission came in spite of the fact that Cebu has been declared International Ship and Port Facility Security Code compliant by the International Maritime Organization. The Cebu port failed reportedly has not acquired the needed equipment because they are very expensive.
Cuenco said that the purchase of such equipment is a priority due to the Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) Summit set here this December. He said that government infrastructure projects can be postponed and the money can be used for this immediate need instead.
The congressman also urged the national government to utilize the unclaimed prizes at the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) for the purchase of the security equipment. He said that he will personally ask President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo about it.
The other Cebuano congressmen however refused to give up their CDF for the purpose.
Rep. Raul del Mar said that while he agree that it is very important to acquire the equipment, he could not just give up his CDF this year because it has already been committed to different infrastructure projects.
But, del Mar said he is willing to give up his CDF for next year if necessary.
Second district Rep. Simeon Kintanar on the other hand said that he will never give up his CDF because it is for his constituents.
" Dili man na ako sa mga tawo man na, unsaon man nako og paninglan ko sa mga projects sama sa water system," Kintanar told DYLA.
Port facilitation security officer Oscar Lopez of the Office of the Transportation Security earlier said they lack the sophisticated equipment to detect bombs and other explosive devices that would be possibly sneaked into the ports.
Although they have installed walk-through detectors and x-ray machines at the passengers terminal for domestic vessels, Lopez said they could not give 100 percent assurance of the passengers' safety because the security measures does not cover the cargo inside the container vans. - Norvie S. Misa
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