Intelligence tracks fund flow financing Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network in RP

DAVAO CITY , PHilippines  – The military intelligence network is tracking the flow of funds for the regional Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist network.

According to the Army’s 10th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu, they have already identified the local conduits of the JI militants in Mindanao.

“Our intelligence keeps track of the fund flow of the JI. We know they have local conduits here,” Mapagu said.

He said the military is currently tracing the money trail on how the Jakarta-based JI were able to finance their terror operations in Mindanao.

In a document on counter-terrorism obtained by The STAR, an Indonesian national identified as Imam Lamai was tagged as the JI financier, while a certain Abdul Sakim Sali, alias Commander Kidlat, acted as the team leader of the local JI in the Philippines.

A Malaysian national, a certain Al Poze and one alias Joling, an Indonesian, were reported to be the organizers of the JI base in Camp Khalid in Maasim, Sarangani.

Another Indonesian, a certain Elmer Ambran, also known as Elmer Enuran, was tagged as the finance officer of the JI’s terror operation here.

A certain Ustadz Usman Colano has also been identified as the contact of the JI financier Imam Lamai.

Mapagu also cited the continued influx of suspected JI militants in the southernmost part of Mindanao, particularly in the coastal areas of the island province of Sarangani and in the adjacent islands of Davao del Sur.

“They continue to come to this part of the country and we are monitoring their movements through their local contacts,” Mapagu said.

Mapagu said the suspected JI militants have continued to arrive in the south by boat which ferries them from the East Indonesian islands of Sangihuer Talaud to Balut Island in Sarangani town in Davao del Sur and in the coastal areas of Glan in Sarangani province.

Immigration officials in Davao City also pointed to the increasing number of Indonesians in Mindanao.

“There are just too many Indonesians in the south that we have a hard time distinguishing them because they look just like us,” remarked an immigration officer here.

National security officials also lamented how authorities have failed to monitor the more than 26,000 boat trips that are made annually between the East Indonesian islands and Mindanao.

Mapagu explained the Indonesian militants link up with their local contacts who provide them with the necessary refuge while in the country.

He pointed out the Indonesian militants have hooked up with the so-called special operations group (SOG) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Mapagu cited the recent arrest of one Giovanni de Ocampo in Pantukan, Compostela Valley where two foreign nationals, a Malaysian and an Indonesian, reportedly escaped during the raid by the military on the suspected lair of MILF rebels in the area.