REGION | Maguindanao councilor charged for illegal drugs

Agents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agents seized shabu and a .45 caliber pistol from the town councilor. Philstar/File photo

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Lawmen on Friday filed criminal charges against a town councilor in Northern Kabuntalan, Maguindanao who was arrested here Thursday for possession of drugs and an unlicensed gun.

The 44-year-old Fatima Daud Baliwan, president of the municipal Association of Barangay Captains, was cornered by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) along a busy street in the city proper.

PDEA agents found shabu and a .45 caliber pistol in her bag after accosting her while inside a Toyota Land Cruiser bearing license plates XSF-868.

Also arrested along with Baliwan is his son, Norodin, and companions Anwar Guiamelon and a certain Basir.

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They are now clamped down at the detention facility of the PDEA-ARMM at the P.C. Hill here, within short distance from the Cotabato City police office.

Bryan Babang, PDEA’s regional director for ARMM, said they learned of Baliwan’s presence in the city from tipsters who helped track her down.

Baliwan, an ethnic Maguindanaon, is included in PDEA-ARMM’s list of top ten most wanted drug traffickers in Maguindanao.

Baliwan’s husband, Muslimin, is a former mayor of Northern Kabuntalan.

She is presently an ex-officio member of the Northern Kabuntalan Sangguniang Bayan, representing the association of barangay captains in the municipality.