Talipao villagers see Sayyaf as Robin Hood

TALIPAO, Sulu - Media and historical accounts may depict the Abu Sayyaf as a group of terrorists and bandits, but many people in this impoverished southern village, especially the young, look up to the Muslim extremists as Robin Hoods.

Many villagers here believe the Abu Sayyaf has helped protect them against harassment from other groups collecting "revolutionary taxes."

The villagers also claim that the bandits extend food and livelihood assistance to them.

Abdul Kadil, 14, a Grade 5 pupil of Bandang Elementary School, not only supports the extremists but also plans to join them as soon as he graduates rather belatedly from primary school.

"They are the ones who have always helped us... There is no reason to be afraid of them," Kadil said in his Tausug dialect, even as he confirmed that he sometimes acts as a lookout for the group.

The teenager said the Abu Sayyaf is always ready to protect the people from the military, police and assorted land grabbers.

A farmer who refused to be named also confirmed his support for the Abu Sayyaf and blamed the government for neglecting this remote community.

He also claimed that their rebel brothers promised them a handsome share of the booty if ransom is finally paid for separate groups of hostages still being held. He added the amount would be handed to them as a form of "assistance."

"Who else would give us that kind of amount? Naturally we will support them; we aren't involved in the fighting anyway," he said in heavily accented Filipino.

The villagers of Barangay Bandang, hometown of Ghalib Andang also known as Commander Robot, further claimed that the presence of the Abu Sayyaf has prevented outsiders from encroaching on their ancestral lands.

Bandang is located some 16 kilometers southeast of Jolo, the capital town of Sulu. Commander Robot is one of the commanders that hold captive 21 mostly foreign hostages in Barangay Tiis Kutung, just three kilometers away from his hometown.

The barangay is one of the villages controlled by the bandits, aside from their previous hideout of Patikul town, stronghold of Commander Sahiron Radullan, another of the group's leaders.

However, local officials here rejected the claims that rebels were bandits with hearts of gold, saying the villagers were just forced to support the Abu Sayyaf because of threats and intimidation, not the least of which is a possible beheading.

Gov. Sakur Tan said that the villagers may have opted to get on the good side of the bandits for fear of reprisals.

Journalists have also complained that the group has made it a habit of extorting money from them in exchange for the briefest of interviews.

Sulu PNP director Superintendent Candido Casimiro placed the strength of the extremists at between 200 to 300, with an undetermined number of sympathizers.

Casimiro disclosed that the present core leadership is comprised of at least five commanders, who he identified as Robot, Radullan, Mujib Susukan, Dr. Abu Pula, and Nadzmi Sadalla.

The group has been blamed for a series of kidnappings in Sulu, including the abduction last Easter Sunday of 21 tourists and resort workers in the popular Malaysian diving spot of Sipadan off Sabah.