Mrs. Arroyo is to visit first on Monday the southern island of Jolo, a stronghold of the Muslim Abu Sayyaf gunmen, before heading to the remote town of Tungawan in the Zamboanga peninsula, where al-Ghozi is believed to be hiding with the help of local militants.
"She will visit (Jolo) and Tungawan, which (the president) described as a ‘no-man’s land’, for the Al-Ghozi operations," presidential adviser Eduardo Ermita said.
Mrs. Arroyo in a statement Thursday said the manhunt for the Indonesian militant was not connected to the upcoming visit here next month of US President George W. Bush.
Mrs. Arroyo is a staunch supporter of the Bush government’s war on terrorism, and Washington has been helping the Philippines crush the Abu Sayyaf, a small group of Islamic militants linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.
The JI is believed to be the Southeast Asian arm of al-Qaeda, blamed for the bombings in Bali, Indonesia, that killed 202 people last October.
"Al-Ghozi is an isolated tactical target and his capture has nothing to do with the Bush visit," Mrs. Arroyo said. "The government is hot on the heels of Al-Ghozi and we will get him in due time."
Al-Ghozi, along with two Abu Sayyaf militants, escaped from a jail inside the Philippine National Police headquarters at Camp Crame in Quezon City last July 14.
The US government and Australia, another key anti-terror ally, had earlier criticized Manila for the escape.
One of the Abu Sayyaf militants who escaped with Al-Ghozi, Abdulmukim Ong Edris, was hunted down and killed near the Zamboanga peninsula last month, and military and police officials said they believe Al-Ghozi was still somewhere in the area.
Al-Ghozi was serving a 17-year jail term for explosives possession when he escaped. He has also been separately charged along with JI operations chief Hambali for a spate of bombings in Manila in 2000.
Hambali, also known as Riduan Isamuddin, is now in US custody after he was arrested in Thailand last month. – AFP, Marichu Villanueva