(Eagle News) — The Philippine National Police has cleared the four men who were earlier linked to the Jolo, Sulu blasts.
Senior Supt. Bernard Banac, PNP spokesperson, said Alshaber Arbi, 18; Gerry Isnajil; Alsimar Mohammad Albi, 24; and Julius Abdulzam Albi, 17; who all figured in footage from a closed-circuit television camera at the blasts site, were released on Wednesday night.
Authorities earlier said they were members of the Ajang-Ajang group of the Abu Sayyaf, and at one point said Arbi, who was seen wearing a green jacket in the CCTV footage, as alias “Kamah,” the group’s commander.
Arbi vehemently denied he was the Ajang-Ajang group commander, and denied he had links to the Abu Sayyaf in the first place.
Both Arbi, a Grade 11 student, and Isnajil, a teacher, said they just happened to be at the blasts site at that time.
The Albis, on the other hand, said they were merely buying medicine from a nearby pharmacy when the blasts occurred.
“Pagkatapos maberipika ang kanilang pagkakakilanlan ayon sa unang pagsusuri ay napatunayan nga na totoo ang kanilang sinasabi, beripikado ng iba pang mga tao..,” Banac said.
Earlier, PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde said alias “Kamah” was still a suspect in the Jolo, Sulu blasts, noting a police raid conducted on his house in Patikul on Tuesday, Jan. 29, that saw the Ajang-Ajang commander and an alleged cohort escaping.
Alias “Kamah’s” alleged relative, Ommal Yusop, was killed in the police operation.
“If probably Kamah was not responsible for that, why would he engage our troops and escape?” Albayalde asked in a television interview.
Albayalde said they were also looking into reports a Yemeni couple was behind the blasts, and that a woman had left a “package,” possibly the explosives, inside the cathedral.
