Basilan court suspends arrest of town mayor
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — A court in Basilan has suspended the serving of arrest warrants issued against a municipal mayor and 13 others on charges of murder and frustrated murder, pending resolution of the defendants’ motions.
The Regional Trial Court-Ninth Judicial Region Branch 2 in Isabela City on Monday directed concerned law enforcement agencies not to implement the warrants against Hadji Muhtamad Mayor Arsina Kahing Nanoh and her co-defendants.
Through their counsel, Quirino Esguera, the defendants filed “very urgent motions for reinvestigation and recall of arrest warrants.”
The defendants asked the court to either dismiss the charges for supposed lack of probable cause or remand the cases to the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor for further investigation.
The court directed the prosecution to file its comment or reply within 10 days from receipt of the order, and set the hearing for the motions on Sept. 4.
Aside from Nanoh, among the defendants are her husband, Nadz, and their relatives – Walihul Allama, Tudy Bayro, Sing Hassan, Hadji Rahim Kahim and Lucman Kaling.
The charges stemmed from an attack that occurred in the waters off Basilan a few hours before the May 2025 election, which killed and wounded the supporters of a mayoral candidate.
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