September 25, 2009, GMA News, 4:52 PM, MILF’s commander Mudi arrested in Cotabato City,

September 25, 2009, GMA News, 4:52 PM, MILF’s commander Mudi arrested in Cotabato City, 

Government forces have arrested a commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who was reportedly responsible for attacks in North Cotabato last year, a television report said.

A report aired over GMA’s Unang Hiritsaid MILF Commander Camarudin Hadji Ali alias Commander Mudi – who has a 1.2 million-peso bounty on his head – is now in the North Cotabato Provincial Jail.

Mudi is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by a local court for frustrated murder and arson. He served under Kumander Ameril Umbra Kato, the MILF leader who seized 15 villages in North Cotabato in 2008, according to the military.

The Department of Justice, meanwhile, recommended the filing of criminal charges against an alleged member of MILF’s Special Operations Group (MILF-SOG) and his companion who were caught in Cotabato City carrying guns and a grenade last Wednesday.

State Prosecutor Juan Pablo Navera said charges of illegal possession of explosives would be filed against suspects Badrudin Dalungan, 29, alias Bedbads; and Salih Agay, alias Benjamin Esmail Sato, 25, after they refused to present defense before the DOJ and undergo preliminary investigation.

Dalungan and Agay were arrested by police at a checkpoint along national highway aboard a motorcycle with guns tucked in their waists. 

According to the military, Dalungan was previously arrested on May 23, 2004 but was freed in a raid by suspected MILF forces on the Maguindanao Provincial Jail.

Dalungan has been tagged as a member of the MILF’s National Guard Command, and is alleged to have ties with suspected Jemaah Islamiyah bomb-makers.

He has standing warrants of arrest for various bombing-related charges, including a bomb attack near a cathedral in Cotabato City last July. He has a P600,000 bounty for his “neutralization." - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV