‘Abu Sayyaf now an international security problem’

MANILA, Philippines – The Abu Sayyaf menace is no longer an internal issue, but an international one that should be taken seriously by the incoming Duterte administration, a senior security official said yesterday.

“These terrorists are now engaging in cross-border terror activities that may force other neighboring states to pursue them right inside our own territory,” the official, who requested anonymity, said.

The official suggested that the next administration should place the Philippine Coast Guard at the forefront of patrol operations of the country’s maritime territory, especially in the Sulu Sea.

“It’s not only the Navy that should be conducting security patrol in the area. The Coast Guard should be there too,” he said.

Meanwhile, incoming presidential adviser on the peace process Jesus Dureza confirmed reports that the bandits are using children to guard their hostages.

In a text message to The STAR, Dureza said that Marites Flor, whom the Abu Sayyaf released recently, told him that armed teenagers were seen in the company of the kidnappers.

Incoming Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo Visaya said he would launch operations day and night against the Abu Sayyaf in order to defeat them quickly.

“That can be the best option to fight them,” he said, adding the Armed Forces of the Philippines has enough resources for 24-hour military operations.

A television report quoted Dureza as saying that terrorists are using 12-year-old boys to guard their hostages, and that residents in remote Mindanao villages are serving as perimeter security for the bandit group.

Dureza said Flor told him that the children were armed and were given money by the bandits.

The Abu Sayyaf is currently holding captive seven Indonesians they snatched from a tugboat in Tawi-Tawi last week. – With Jose Rodel Clapano