Arrested ‘Jihad’ preacher in Manila

Philippine Immigration officers escort Robert Edward Cerantonio (C), an Australian convert to Islam who used the internet to urge people to join “jihad” in Iraq and Syria, shortly after arriving at Manila airport on July 11, 2014, after he was arrested in Cebu City. The Australian convert was arrested in the Philippines on July 11, local police said. AFP

MANILA, Philippines – The Australian national suspected to be a Jihad preacher who was arrested in Cebu on Friday morning arrived in Manila.

As of posting time, Robert Edward Cerantonio is now detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, according to a radio report.

He was first brought to the Philippine National Police Heaquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City for tactical interrogation, said Senior Superintendent Conrad Capa, Central Visayas police regional deputy director for operation.

Capa and his team arrested the Australian national based on a warrant of deportation issued on Thursday for violation of immigration laws since Cerantonio was an undocumented alien.

Capa said Cerantonio would be brought to the Bureau of Immigration after the interrogation.

Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, meanwhile, refused to give details on Cerantonio for security reasons.

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