MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino vowed yesterday to continue the manhunt for terror suspect Abdul Basit Usman since the government has the duty to protect citizens.
“Now, be assured that the second target that eluded us will be captured. You know this: I am a man of my word. Capturing Basit Usman is number one on our list of priorities. I have ordered the authorities to formulate a more effective plan to hunt down and apprehend this criminal,” Aquino said in his eulogy for the slain members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (SAF) at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.
“Your government is working towards this end; in fact, even before speaking to you, we were already taking steps to meet this objective. We will prove that the law truly prevails in the Philippines. I assure you, we will get Usman,” the President said.
Some 44 elite SAF operatives were killed in a “misencounter” with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and a private armed group last weekend while on a mission to arrest Usman and Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli Bin Hir, alias Marwan.
“With the operation that SAF undertook, it is reported that the primary target, Marwan, was killed,” Aquino said.
In his televised national address on Wednesday night, Aquino said the SAF operatives headed to Barangay Tukanalipao in Mamasapano, Maguindanao to serve outstanding arrest warrants to the two notorious terrorists who had long been pursued by authorities.
There are no less than eight outstanding warrants against Usman alone, while there are no less than two for Marwan, according to the President.
Marwan is said to be part of the central committee of the Jemaah Islamiyah while Usman is a Filipino rebel and foreign-trained bomb maker belonging to the Abu Sayyaf and believed to have links with JI and the Islamic extremist al-Qaeda.
The military called on local communities in Mindanao to help the government in its security efforts by denying safe haven to terrorists.
Armed Forces public affairs chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc said security forces could track down Usman and other terrorists if civilians provide tips about their whereabouts.
“The problem could easily be solved if they (civilians) themselves cooperate by providing information and denying these people sanctuaries in their own communities,” Cabunoc said.
Marwan-trained bombers
Sources said Marwan had allegedly trained at least 300 bomb makers in Central Mindanao in the past two years.
Sources confirmed yesterday that Marwan had stayed in the swampy border of North Cotabato and Maguindanao and trained recruits on how to handle explosives and fabricate improvised explosive devices, and make anti-tank rockets or mortar projectiles.
“About 50 of the recruits he trained were Maranaw jihadists from Lanao del Sur and Marawi City,” a source said.
The source said Marwan and his Maguindanaon cohort Usman have used Mt. Cararao and the Unayan area as their safe haven where they are protected by local armed groups.
Sources said among Marwan’s recruits were 30 women, mostly Maguindanaons.
“Three of them spoke to each other in the Subanen dialect, indicating they were from the Zamboanga peninsula,” the source said.
The Army and the MILF have failed to verify the presence of Marwan in the area.
“The people they were searching for knew a joint verification team would be arriving. They dispersed in the surroundings and calmly watched the soldiers and MILF members walk around their hideouts, which they abandoned temporarily to avoid detection. They even took footage of them roaming around using mobile phones,” said the source, a local health worker who refused to be identified. – With Alexis Romero, John Unson