Suspected Australian Jihadist nabbed in Cebu

Robert Edward Cerantonio, 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. AFP

CEBU CITY, Philippines—An Australian suspected to be a Jihad preacher was arrested on Friday in an apartment in Lapu-Lapu City on Mactan Island.

Robert Edward Cerantonio did not resist when a team from the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas and the Bureau of Immigration office in Central Visayas collared him in an apartment in Barangay (village) Pajac, about 5 a.m.

Cerantonio, 29, was with a Filipina identified as Joan Montayre, who was also arrested for estafa.

Senior Superintendent Conrad Capa, Central Visayas police regional deputy director for operations, said Cerantonio was a native of Melbourne, Australia, and an Islam convert.

He said that based on intelligence reports, Cerantonio was a Jihad preacher who came to Cebu last week for a short vacation.

Capa said Cerantonio, a Christian who converted to Islam, is using his website kavkaz.center.com and social media accounts to promote terrorism and urge Muslims to join the Jihad in Syria and Iraq.

But Capa said the arrest was based on a warrant of deportation issued on Thursday for violation of immigration laws since Cerantonio was an undocumented alien.

He said Cerantonio was to be taken to the Immigration in Manila for deportation proceedings.

Cerantonio was placed under the Immigration’s custody, while Montayre was brought to Mandaue Jail in Cebu.

Police seized several mobile phones, SIM cards, and other electronic devices.

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