Abu loot beyond reach of the law

Republic Act 9160, the Anti-Money Laundering Law which was passed on Sept. 29 last year, is not retroactive and cannot be used to recover ransom money deposited by the Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao banks, Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said yesterday.

Tiglao said justice department officials who have undergone training on anti-terrorism at the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are finding it hard to trace the Abu Sayyaf’s loot from kidnapping activities.

"One problem is actually our bank restrictions," Tiglao told reporters. "We cannot ask any bank just to open its books which is actually one of the purposes of the Anti-Money Laundering Law. But they’re working on it."

He said justice department officials have yet to get evidence of the Abu Sayyaf’s bank deposits.

"We’re still trying to get detailed evidence from the … FBI," he said. "One problem is that the report (on bank deposits) is referring to the Sipadan hostage payment which happened two years ago. So data or information is not that easy to retrieve."

Tiglao also read a statement from President Arroyo denying a report that an unnamed Philippine official had accused Libyan leader Moammar Gadhaffi of involvement in the ransom payment for foreign hostages snatched from the Sipadan island resort off Sabah on Easter Sunday in April 2000.

"There is no evidence at all that the Libyan government was involved in the ransom payments for the release of the Sipadan hostages, much less that it provided funds to any international terrorist network through the Abu Sayyaf," he said.

"Suspicions or theories raised in an international intelligence briefing abroad were not intended for public disclosure, and no Philippine official was authorized to report such speculation," Tiglao said.

Mrs. Arroyo has been "very grateful for the invaluable assistance of the Libyan government in the settlement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front," he added.

In Basilan, Marines and Navy commandos killed three Abu Sayyaf bandits at dawn yesterday when they tried to evade a Navy gunboat in waters near Dasalan island.

Army Lt. Col. Danilo Servando, spokesman for the Armed Forces Southern Command, said a Navy gunboat fired at two pumpboats carrying the Abu Sayyaf bandits when they ignored a warning shot.

"It was because of the night vision equipment that the Navy spotted the three killed Abu Sayyaf bandits," he said.

Servando said an Air Force helicopter fired a rocket and destroyed one of the pumpboats but the other escaped and the bandits on board are believed to had landed in Dasalan.

Troops are tracking them down in Dasalan and nearby islands, he added.

US troops have provided the Philippine military with equipment and weapons to help it locate and crush the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers holding American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipina nurse Deborah Yap.

However, Servando said there was no sighting of the Burnhams and Yap in Dasalan.

"It would be difficult (for the Abu Sayyaf) to extricate themselves out of Basilan," he said. "Their movements are being monitored and our intelligence is working."

Military officials said satellite data and other information from US troops using high-tech detection equipment had helped Filipino soldiers pinpoint Abu Sayyaf positions more accurately than before.

But Servando said the estimated 80 Abu Sayyaf gunmen holding the Burnhams and Yap had split into three groups to make it more difficult for soldiers to rescue the hostages.

"What they are doing now is to hide their hostages to prevent any rescue attempt," he said.

The Abu Sayyaf has apparently wiggled out of the military dragnet yet again, local officials said. – With Roel Pareño, AFP