ON February 15, a combined force of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) conducted an operation against terrorism.
The target of the operation was a financier associated with the leader of the Islamic State East Asia group, Isnilon Hapilon.
On the same day, authorities also captured the identified target, Myrna Mabanza, 32 years old, in Brgy. Pasil, Indanan, Sulu.
Mabanza is listed as a United States Specially Designated Global Terrorist and is also included in the United Nations Security Council Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or Daesh and Al-Qaeda Sanctions list.
Apart from the mentioned affiliations, Mabanza served as an intermediary for Hapilon and the Daesh groups in Syria.
She also facilitated the travel of the Daesh-linked terrorist group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) from Indonesia to the Philippines, where they purchased weapons and conducted training for recruited pro-Daesh Indonesians.
Furthermore, Mabanza has an arrest warrant for five counts, violating Republic Act No. 10168 (The Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012) and charges under RA No. 11479 (The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020).
The Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) commended the authorities’ efforts for the successful operation in arresting Mabanza.
“The ATC commends the efforts of the offices and units involved in this successful operation on the arrest of Mabanza,” according to Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC).
Commanding Officer of the Philippine Army, LtGen Roy Galido, hailed the arrest as a significant help to the Philippines.
“That’s good news for our country, for our fellow Filipinos, as I mentioned earlier, for every terrorist that we eliminate, then the better for our country,” LtGen. Roy Galido, Commander, Philippine Army said.
LtGen. Galido is also calling on every Filipino to unite and collaborate to eradicate terrorism in our country.
“Let’s help each other, just like when we captured the bombers at MSU. It’s a whole government effort, so… let’s all work together for the country,” Galido added.
