By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The daughter of Binalbagan Vice Mayor Samuel Gavaran posted a screencap last night on social media of a text message from Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana clearing her father of rebellion charges.
A screencap of the text message showed Lorenzana directed the Armed Forces of the Philippines to verify Gavaran’s name and it turned out the vice mayor shares the same name with a native of northern Mindanao who recently converted to Islam.
Lorenzana also issued an apology to the vice mayor for linking him as a supporter of the Islamic State-backed Maute terror group.
“I shall issue a directive stating Samuel A. Gavaran, Vice Mayor of Binalbagan, Negros Occidental is hereby removed from Arrest Order No. 2, dated June 5, 2017,” said the cabinet secretary.
Earlier, Gavaran denied the accusation, saying he was in Binalbagan during the Marawi City siege./WDJ