Run after Marwan’s followers, government told

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara wants the government to run after the followers of slain terrorist bomber Zulkilfi bin Hir, alias Marwan, and dismantle any arms factory they might have built in Mindanao.

In a statement, Angara said the government must ensure that any “technology transfer” done by Marwan during his long years in Mindanao would not kill more people.

“If arms factories exist in Mindanao, whether by Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), Abu Sayyaf, they must be dismantled,” he said in Filipino.

Angara said a Moro Islamic Liberation Front-run munitions factory is a violation of the ceasefire agreement.

“If we are now nearing the arms decommissioning phase, then it will be for naught if one group will be increasing its arms inventory in anticipation of the phased giving up of its weapons.” 

Angara said an arms race in Mindanao must be stopped.

“If the giving up of weapons is by installment, the number of arms retained would increase,” he said.

Angara said Marwan had sought refuge in rebel camps in Mindanao after being driven out of Malaysia, “…then we have to assume that he trained many people.”

“The graduates of his workshops must not be allowed to put what they learned from him to use.” 

In the Senate hearing last Feb. 24, chief government peace negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said she had received reports on a BIFF improvised explosive device facility in Mindanao.