Datu Adlaw, the leader of a fraudulent tribal group in Surigao City, Surigao del Norte, was arrested on Thursday morning, according to the Philippine National Police – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).
“Arrested na po si Datu Adlaw. Ongoing pa po ang documentation,” CIDG chief P/MGen. Nicolas Torre III said.
Jorgeto Corpuz Santisas, also known as “Datu Adlaw,” was apprehended under an arrest warrant for usurpation of authority.
Datu Adlaw, who claimed rights to ancestral land, reportedly locked the doors of several businesses that refused to pay his group, the Federal Tribal Government of the Philippines (FTGP), according to the report of Super Radyo dzBB’s Mark Makalalad.
The FTGP also solicited funds from its own members.
The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) stated that the FTGP is neither registered nor recognized as an indigenous peoples organization.
In addition to Datu Adlaw, the CIDG discovered 23 alleged members and nine children in the area, including a woman named Lourdes Infante Salinas, who is said to be the group’s leader.
Earlier in January, a complaint for alarm and scandal was filed against the group for shutting down the affected businesses.