Australian linked to Iraqi militants nabbed in Cebu

MANILA, Philippines - An Australian national believed to have links with the Islamic militants in Iraq was arrested in Cebu yesterday.

Joint government operatives from the police and immigration authorities arrested Robert Edward Cerantonio at his rented apartment at Barangay Ibo, Lapu-Lapu City.

Along with Cerantonio, lawmen also arrested Joean Navarro Montayre, 32, of Candoni, Negros Occidental, reportedly wanted on estafa charges.

Police said Cerantonio, 29, of Melbourne, was arrested for violation of immigration laws.

He arrived with security escorts at the NAIA last night.

Regional police director Chief Superintendent Prudencio Bañas said they found no evidence linking Cerantino to terrorist activities during his arrest.

Lapu-Lapu police director Senior Superintendent Armando Radoc said Cerantonio was brought to the Bureau of Immigration regional office in Cebu.

The arrest was made in coordination with the Australian Federal Police, officials said.

It was the Australian government that requested for Cerantonio’s arrest. The arrest was based on the warrant of deportation by the Bureau of Immigration in Manila for violation of immigration laws.

Arresting lawmen led by Senior Superintendent Conrad Capa said Cerantonio did not resist arrest.

He said Cerantonio was the subject of surveillance for a few weeks before the arrest.

“We monitored him 24/7,” Capa added.

Since there was no evidence linking him to any terrorist act, officials said Cerantonio will only be deported, being an undocumented alien.

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

Sources said Cerantonio, who also goes by the name Musa Cerantonio, was last monitored in

Davao City, where security has been tightened following President Aquino’s warning of a terrorist attack.

Cerantonio’s arrest came barely two days after a senior military official revealed that around 200 Australian Muslim converts are now in Iraq, fighting alongside the ISIS against Iraqi government forces.

The website www.dailymail.co.uk  said Cerantonio is an Australian Muslim extremist who uses social media to call on Muslims to join the ISIS.

The official made this disclosure as he belied reports bared by a Mindanao-based terrorism expert that some 200 Filipino Muslims are now on their way to Iraq to join the ISIS.

The terrorism expert said the Filipino Muslims who are members of the newly formed Khalifa Islamiyah Mindanao (KIM) slipped out the country through the southern backdoor and are now headed for Somalia to rendezvous with other Muslim groups in answering the call of ISIS self-proclaimed leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to join in fighting the Iraqi government. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Ria Mae Booc/The Freeman