MANAMA: The founder of a group blamed for a ferry bombing in the Philippines that killed 116 people four years ago was arrested here and deported to the Philippines.
Ruben Pestano Lavilla Jr., also known as Sheik Omar Lavilla, was deported to Manila yesterday, more than a month after he was arrested in Bahrain.
Marcelino Libanan, head of the immigration commission in Manila, said the 35-year-old militant leader was working as an editor of a local magazine and was also hired as an interpreter at the Philippine Embassy in Bahrain.
Officials at the embassy confirmed reports about Lavilla’s deportation, but Consul General Jose Burgos could not confirm claims he had been working as an interpreter at the embassy. “I cannot confirm or comment on the issue as I am not aware of it,” Burgos said.
Officials from the Bahraini Ministry of Interior were not available for comment, when contacted by Arab News.
Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor said in Manila that Bahraini authorities arrested Lavilla on July 24 after a Philippine Embassy security check on job applicants found he had outstanding warrants for murder and rebellion in the Philippines.
It took a month for the deportation process to be completed, including a confirmation by the Bahraini government of the existence of the Philippine arrest warrants, the creation of a team to bring Lavilla back to Manila and other preparations that “conform with the international law on human rights,” Blancaflor said.
Fernando Mesa, executive director of the Philippine government’s Anti-terrorism Council, said Lavilla was wanted for the country’s worst militant attack, the bombing of a ferry near Manila Bay in 2004.
— With input from agencies
