The Philippine National Police (PNP) will investigate a dismissed policeman who was arrested with widow of bombmaker Marwan in Lanao del Norte last Sunday.

PNP Director General Ronald Dela Rosa said Monday the investigation aims to determine the possible link of former SPO4 Andy Ata to the terrorist group in southern Philippines.

“There is a big possibility that he is with the group, The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG ? PNP) will conduct a thorough investigation as far as the participation of SPO4 Ata,” he said.

“For now we cannot yet say that he has an involvement. They were at a house. It is possible that he just went there to visit. That is a Sunday… There is a family linkage. He visited the house but still we have to investigate it properly. He may have a link to the terrorist group of Marwan,” he added.

Dela Rosa said Ata was dismissed from the police service. He was arrested in Tubod, Lanao del Norte with his wife Lorilie and Juromee Dongon.

Dongon is believed to be the widow of Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) leader Khadaffy Janjalani and Malaysian bomber Zulkifli Bin Hit alias Marwan.

“He was dismissed from the service and I still have to check with the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management (DPRM) if he applied for reinstatement,” Dela Rosa said when asked for the current status of Ata.

Dela Rosa also said it is not the first time a policeman was caught with alleged terrorists, referring to Supt. Maria Cristina Nobleza who was arrested with ASG member Reener Lou Dongon and two others when they were arrested at a checkpoint in Bohol last year.

“The family of Dongon, if you remember the wife of Marwan who is Tata Dongon is the sister of Reneer Dongon the boyfriend Supt. Nobleza, The Dongon family are formerly Christians from Visayas. They were converted to Islam and radicalized,” he said. Robina Asido/DMS