SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao: Municipal officials of Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat, are asking for the intervention of President Rodrigo Duterte for him to order the Philippine National Police (PNP) to launch a massive manhunt for the immediate arrest of their municipal mayor, Abubacar Maulana, who is now a fugitive from justice.

Municipal Councilor Amil Aliding Pangansayan, in a phone interview with The Manila Times, said his colleagues have officially informed the Office of the President that Maulana should be charged also with absenteeism since he is now in hiding and nowhere to be found.