CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The sprawling compound owned by controversial lawyer Elias Pamatong here was raided Thursday dawn (August 31) by the Martial Law Special Action Group (MLSAG), resulting to the confiscation of a firearm and explosives.
Pamatong has been a known eccentric figure in the country, and has faced criminal cases and even arrested several times but eluded conviction.
It took 42 search warrants to cover all of the houses within Pamatong's complex at a seaside area in Barangay Tablon at around 5 a.m., and at least six teams from the MLSAG, the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo), the military’s Task Force Oro, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Military Intelligence Battalion of the Army's Fourth Infantry Division.
Pamatong inherited the area after its owner, another fringe cult-like individual named Edmundo Pamintuan, died in 2002. Pamatong was Pamintuan’s lawyer. Pamintuan named his group Back to Christ Discovery Crusade.
Many of the members of the group, who disbanded after Pamintuan’s death, were recruited by Pamatong, who renamed it as USA Freedom Fighters of the East (USAFFE) in 2003.
In recent weeks, dozens of Pamatong’s followers have been arrested in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities for wearing military-like uniforms while refusing to recognize police authority.
Weeks after President Rodrigo Duterte was sworn into office, Pamatong also declared himself to be the country's "legitimate" chief executive, and even led his followers in several street march against the administration.
Cocpo Station 10 commander, Chief Insp. Evan Viñas, said Pamatong’s followers were cooperative during the raid and no one was arrested although Pamatong himself and several of his aides, whom he described as “cabinet secretaries”, escaped.
Seized at the scene were several crudely fashioned knives, a .45 caliber pistol with one full magazine and two hand grenades.
The raiding team also discovered in the area a Philippine flag hoisted upside down and another hoisted United States flag in front of a house with the label “The Poorest Malacañan Palace."
Pamatong has had many runs-in with the law.
In 2014, Pamatong was arrested in connection with the bombing of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3 in September . In the same year, he was also accused of putting metal spikes on Edsa after the Commission on Elections declared him a nuisance candidate for the presidential race.
In 2010, he was briefly jailed for contempt.
Despite his antics, Pamatong remains to be a member of the Philippine Bar and could practice law anywhere in the country. (PNA)
