MANILA, Philippines – Did the mother of the leaders of the Maute Group go to a town in Lanao del Sur to bury her two other sons?
The military is validating the report it received about Ominta Romato “Farhana” Maute, mother of terrorist leaders Omarkhayam and Abdullah Maute, who was arrested last Friday along with two wounded Maute Group gunmen in the province’s Barangay Kormatan in Masiu town.
“The report is Farhana was there because she buried her two sons. But that’s all for validation,” Lt. Col. Jo-Ar Herrera, spokesperson of Joint Task Force Marawi, told reporters on Tuesday, June 13.
Herrera of the Armed Forces’1st Infantry Division, said Madie Maute and Mohammadkhayam “Otto” Maute were reportedly the ones who were buried by Farhana in Lanao del Sur before she was arrested by authorities on June 9.
Farhana and her husband, Cayamora Macaraya Maute, who was also recently arrested by authorities in Davao City, have 12 children — seven sons and five daughters. But according to a Reuters report based on intelligence sources, the Maute offsprings have one half-brother and that all brothers but one of whom joined the battle for Marawi.
Otto is the eldest of the Maute brothers and is married to the daughter of Alim Abdul Aziz Mimbantas, the late vice chairman for military affairs of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Otto, allegedly the one directing the operations and intelligence of the Maute Group, graduated from the University of the East with a degree in civil engineering, according to a military dossier.
It was also at the said school where Otto reportedly met his wife Adlia Mimbantas.
Farhana and Cayamora’s children are first cousins of Azisa Romato, wife of the late MILF vice chairman Mimbantas.
Former Marawi mayor Omar Ali, who also used to be a commander of the Moro National Liberation Front, is the brother of Fahad Salic, also a former mayor of the Lanao del Sur capital and the ex-husband of actress and defeated senatorial candidate Alma Moreno.
One of Salic’s wives is Rasmia, whose mother is the sister of Farhana (Ominta).
Farhana, who allegedly helped finance the extremist group led by her children, and Salic were among the 11 individuals being linked to the Marawi attack charged with rebellion by government prosecutors on Tuesday, June 13.