‘Giant fish swallowed him up’

ZAMBOANGA CITY — While the military continues to scour the sea for the remains of Abu Sayyaf terrorist leader Abu Sabaya, old fisherfolk here believe recovery operations should focus on a big fish that supposedly inhabits Zamboanga’s waters.

Those engaged in deep sea fishing here believe that if Sabaya, whose real name is Aldam Tilao, was able to elude pursuing government troops by jumping into the sea, he could not have escaped the mythological big fish called kugtong and sharks off the coast of Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte.

Sibuco fishermen say the kugtong is a giant grouper or lapu-lapu that has been living in the deep sea for decades. Based on several purported sightings, it is supposed to be five meters long and three meters wide, with colorful scales and long dagger-like teeth by which it can easily devour its prey whole.

The Sibuco coastline is described as kantilado (marked by sudden deep portions) because of the cliffs that surround it.

"Kantilado kasi ang dagat dito, kaya dyan namamahay ang kugtong nang matagal na panahon na (The sea here is kantilado, that’s why the kugtong has lived here for a long time)," one of the fishermen said in the Visayan dialect.

The source said according to the town’s oldtimers, fishermen of Sibuco do not dare venture to the kantil (coastal deep sea) because of the kugtong’s presence.

"Marami na ring nawala na mga mangingisda dito sa mga taong nakalipas. Ang pagkawala nila ay nanatiling misteryo. Pero maraming nagsasabi na baka nilamon na ng kugtong (Many fishermen have also disappeared in years past, and it has remained a mystery. But many have said that the kugtong ate them)," the source said.

The fishermen were one in saying that if Sabaya had indeed escaped alive, he would not have slipped past the hungry kugtong.

Another Zamboanga native related how the giant grouper came to inhabit the waters of Zamboanga del Norte. Many years ago when an inter-island ferry sank off the coast, scores of passengers were trapped inside. Groupers then swam in and began feasting on the victims, after which the fish grew so big that they could no longer exit from the portholes through which they came in.

An eyewitness to the pre-dawn clash on June 21 that also killed two of Sabaya’s followers, said that the bandit spokesman was so riddled with bullets he was practically mincemeat for any grouper.

Meanwhile, the Singapore Straits Times quoted reports that Sabaya was sighted in the Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Basilan days after his reported death.

For his part, Gen. Donald Wurster, commanding officer of the US troops participating in the ongoing Balikatan exercises, believes that the chances were nil for Sabaya to have survived being hit in the encounter and falling into the deep, more than a kilometer from shore.

A substantial monetary reward has been offered by the government for the recovery of Sabaya’s body. - With ABS-CBN news reports