Philippine security forces have arrested a father and his son implicated in the killing of a Catholic priest in southern Mindanao region last year, local media reported Thursday.
The two, Ahmad Kuhutan and Kursid Kuhutan, suspected members of the extremist group Abu Sayyaf, were suspected of murdering priest Rey Roda in a local high school of Tawi-Tawi province after a foiled abduction attempt.
"The subjects were brought to Zamboanga City. Both are very cooperative and have already provided crucial information," Lt. Steffani Cacho, regional military spokesperson in Mindanao, told on-line news network GMA News.
The 340-member Abu Sayyaf was blamed for a series of high profile kidnapping-for-ransom cases and fatal blasts in the Philippines over the past decade. Its members are allegedly holding three employees of the International Committee of Red Cross, including two foreigners, in the jungles of Sulu province, a stronghold of the militant group.