Police: Aussie jihadist came to Cebu alone

CEBU, Philippines - The Police Regional Office-7 and the Bureau of Immigration are checking the travel records of a jihadist preacher arrested in Lapu-Lapu City Friday morning for violation of immigration laws.

Senior Superntendent Conrad Capa, deputy regional director for operations, said they are reviewing the travel documents seized from Robert Edward Cerantonio, 28, alias “Musa” to find out how he entered the country.

“May nakuha kaming passport at ibang documents na nasa immigration ngayon,” Capa said.

Capa, however, dispelled speculations that Cerantonio may have come to Cebu in the company of terrorists. Cerantonio is believed to have ties to terror groups. Although the police said they have no evidence linking him to terrorist activities.

According to Capa, Cerantonio was alone when he arrived in Cebu two weeks ago and rented an apartment in Barangay Pajac, Lapu-Lapu City. It was only later that his female companion, Joan Montayre, joined him in the apartment.

Montayre is currently being held for interrogation at the Police Station 2 in Mandaue City.

“Marami kasi siyang alam kasi siya ‘yung kasama ng suspect at siya rin ‘yung tagabili ng gamit nila while the suspect is inside the apartment,” Capa said.

Following Cerantonio’s arrest, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz C. Radaza has ordered the city police to intensify their monitoring against suspicious personalities in the city.

“I have ordered (Sr. Supt. Armando) Radoc to intensify monitoring of this kind of personalities”, Radaza said.

Radoc is the officer-in-charge of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office.

Radaza said the police should strengthen their intelligence monitoring because the city is a known tourist destination.

“This kind of news report is not good for the city,” Radaza said.

“It is a priority to make our people and our visitors safe here,” she added.

 Cerantonio’s arrest was based on the warrant of deportation issued by the Bureau of Immigration in Manila for violation of immigration laws.

Immigration officials are now working on deporting Cerantonio for being an undocumented alien.

Bureau of Immigration officer Elaine Tan said they are still in the process of completing Cerantonio’s documents and have not yet set a schedule for his deportation.

Immigration Commissioner Siegfred Mison said Cerantonio was charged for being an undocumented and an “undesirable alien.”

“He will be deported to Australia when all the documents necessary for deportation are complete,” he said.

Among the requirements is a clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation that Cerantonio has no pending case in the courts.

The Australian Ministry for Foreign Affairs had cancelled Cerantonio’s passport on July 7 after he was discovered to be sending messages through social media urging extremism.

A Muslim convert, Cerantonio is suspected of being a conduit of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

 ISIS is a jihadist group active in Iraq and Syria which was formed in April 2013 and grew out of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). It has since been disavowed by al-Qaeda, but become one of the main jihadist groups fighting government forces in Syria and is making military gains in Iraq.

One in four foreign fighters follow Cerantonio’s Twitter account and his Facebook page is the third-most ‘liked’ page among jihadists.

The police have turned him over to the immigration officials on Friday following his arrest. He was taken to the Immigration’s holding facility in Bicutan, Taguig City where he will remain while awaiting deportation. — with Christell Tudtud and Philippine Star News Service/FPL (FREEMAN)