"The villagers are upset having the Abu Sayyaf. I actually think the Philippine military is doing a great job," Kenney said Monday after inspecting the progress of a medical mission in Barangay Buansa, which was only a few kilometers from the former training camps of Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). The two terrorist groups are believed to be linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
The medical mission was jointly launched by the Philippine and US armies and the provincial government of Sulu.
Kenney said local villagers had been sharing information with authorities on the whereabouts of Abu Sayyaf chief Khadaffi Janjalani and JI’s Dulmatin and Umar Patek, tagged as the masterminds of the October 2002 bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali which killed over 200 people, majority of them foreign tourists.
"The (Sulu0 population wants to live in peace, they want the terrorists to go away," Kenney said.
A ranking US military commander confirmed the civilians’ growing contribution to neutralizing the Abu Sayyaf.
"The biggest change I have seen is the people are coming together and teaming up with the government, the PNP, AFP (Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines) and getting together to go after the Abu Sayyaf, JI — that’s the biggest change," Col. James Linder, commander of the US Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, said.
Linder, who is poised for a new US assignment, said the government is winning the war on terror in Sulu.
"I think we’re winning, we and the peace-loving people of Sulu are winning everyday," Linder said in his farewell visit.
"What you see down there is security operation. It’s targeting the lawless elements, JI and the Abu Sayyaf terrorists. Nobody needs the definition of the destruction they have brought in the area of this country and in other parts of the world," Linder said.
About 5,000 government troops are involved in the ongoing offensive against Abu Sayyaf and JI in Sulu.
Brig. Gen. Ruben Rafael, Task Force Comet chief, said Janjalani, Dulmatin, and Patek are running out of places to hide in the jungles of Sulu.
"We continued in constricting them and hope they will not be able to move out," Rafael said.
Kenney said she had in her mind the long-term development of Sulu. "My interest here is looking a little further down the stream and not just what we are doing here today and few months ago, but I’m looking down a couple of years," Kenney said.
The US government, through US Agency for International Development (USAID), has been shelling out $4 million a year for Sulu for the last five years, according to Kenney.
"My real focus is we have to create the condition for peace," she added.
USAID officials arrived recently in the town of Panamao to inspect a newly built complex that will house a multi-purpose center, a hospital, a market place, and computer classrooms. The complex has a small road network and a water supply.
Andy de Rossi, president of the 3-P Foundation, donated 5,000 books to a school in Panamao.
De Rossi said the books include "Peace Book" and "On That Day - 9/11."
"The Peace Book will teach the children the meaning of peace and On That Day will explain to the kids what really happened," De Rossi said.
The 3-P Foundation had already spent P50 million for the development of Panamao, which had been attacked many times in the past by Abu Sayyaf terrorists.