Navy chief Vice Adm. Ernesto de Leon said the arrest of the suspects was a result of their intensified counter-terrorism operations in Western Mindanao.
Jundan Jamalul, alias Commander Black Killer, did not resist arrest when elements of the 211th Marine Company swooped down on his lair in Paniogan village, Bongao town at 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Arrested along with Jamalul were his men, identified as Nahalan Bagil, 27; Tonimal Paraka, 18; Haron Padan, 32; Tinan Jundan Usman, 50; Ittig Jundan, 29; and Rizal Paraka, 31, according to Navy spokesman Capt. Geronimo Malabanan.
"The Abu Sayyaf is falling into the hands of the military one by one," Malabanan said in a phone interview.
Seized from the suspects were a .45-caliber pistol with seven rounds of ammunition, a caliber .38 revolver with six rounds of ammunition, nine shells from an M-16 rifle, 49 shells for a caliber .45 pistol and assorted gunsmith tools, he added.
The arrested bandits are now detained for debriefing at the headquarters of the 11th Marine Company in Tawi-Tawi to determine their involvement in past Abu Sayyaf atrocities.
Black Killer is said to be one of the group’s leaders that abducted three Indonesian sailors last April near Mataking Island off Palau in Sabah, Malaysia. They then passed on their hostages to another group of Abu Sayyaf members in Sulu.
Two of the victims were rescued last June in Indanan town in Sulu, leaving the third victim, Ahmad Resmiyadi, a skipper of the Malaysian-registry tugboat, still in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf under Albader Parad.
Southern Command records showed Black Killer’s command as having been behind the hijacking and subsequent abduction of three sailors — an Indonesian and two Malaysians two years ago.
Three Indonesian fishermen were also taken from an island near Indonesia and brought to Tawi-Tawi early last year. The victims unfortunately died due to severe ailments while in captivity, according to Southcom reports.
"Our forces are double checking the identities of the group, especially that of Commander Black Killer. If indeed his identity is confirmed, he is a big fish of the Abu Sayyaf," said Commodore Rufino Lopez Jr., chief of the Naval Forces-Western Mindanao.
Meanwhile, the Philippines may have the most number of terrorist groups in Southeast Asia but these groups do not have as many members as one might assume.
"The Philippines has the most number of terrorist groups in Southeast Asia, but in terms of individuals, it is not as big as (those) perhaps in other countries," said Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao.
Nonetheless, Lomibao said the Interpol executive committee is now in the process of collating information about terrorism from countries that submitted their reports on this global menace during the 74th Interpol General Assembly from Sept. 19 to 22. — Jaime Laude, AFP, Roel Pareño, Cecille Suerte Felipe