128 Abu Sayyaf, MILF men hunted for Marines' beheading

Police are still hunting 128 members of the Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for the beheading of 14 Marines involved in the rescue of Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi in July last year.

Senior Superintendent Leonardo Espina, chief of the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response (PACER), said the 128 suspects are now the subject of arrest warrants for the killings.

“We have information that they have sought refuge in Western Mindanao (Region 9),” Espina said.

Of the 128, 12 reportedly belong to the Abu Sayyaf group led by Furiji Indama, and the rest, said to be members of the MILF group headed by Wahab Akbar.

Earlier, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. announced the arrest of Abdulkab Balahim, alias Abas, a regular member of the Abu Sayyaf.

“The arrest of the suspect was part of the PNP’s campaign against crime and to account all persons with pending arrest warrants,” Razon said in a press conference.

Balahim was arrested by combined agents of PACER, the Army’s Intelligence and Security Group and the 9th Regional Mobile Group at the intersection of Masuhod Drive and Talon-Talon street in Zamboanga City.

In his report to Razon, Espina said Balahim was arrested by virtue of an arrest warrant issued by Judge Leo Jay Principe of Isabela City Regional Trial Court Branch 1.

Espina said Balahim is facing nine counts of murder and four counts of frustrated murder for his alleged participation in the ambush of the Marine soldiers in Al Barka, Basilan on July 10 last year.

Balahim was listed in the PNP’s most wanted list with a bounty of P500,000.

Last January, police arrested another suspect in the beheading, Aramil Sulayman, 29, in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Shariff Kabunsuan.