More troops deployed in Basilan, Sulu to combat Abu Sayyaf

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Security forces are gearing up for a showdown with the Abu Sayyaf as two more battalions of troops would be deployed in Basilan and Sulu a day after the government rejected the proposal to grant amnesty to the bandit group.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. will personally send off today the troops from the 9th Marine Battalion Team (MBLT-9) and Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Teodoro would be flying to Basilan to personally issue the orders for troops to hunt down the Abu Sayyaf.

Teodoro earlier opposed the proposal to grant amnesty to the Abu Sayyaf in an effort to end the violence in southern Mindanao.

He said granting amnesty to the Abu Sayyaf would jeopardize the country’s anti-terrorism campaign.

Malacañang on Thursday rejected the proposal of Sen. Richard Gordon to grant amnesty to the Abu Sayyaf, saying the government couldn’t allow the bandits to go unpunished for their atrocities.

Other sectors had also slammed the amnesty proposal, saying it would be against public policy to extend leniency to common criminals.

Just as Malacañang announced the rejection of the amnesty proposal, government troops rescued two fishermen kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf last April.

Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NAVFORWEST) commander, said the deployment of additional troops is part of the plan to sustain the offensive against the bandit group.

“We have orders to follow and a deadline to meet,” Pama said.

Pama said the additional troops would complement Task Force Trillium that has one Marine brigade and a battalion of police SAF troops going after the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan and Sulu.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Victor Ibrado said the military leadership is not imposing any deadline on the operation against the Abu Sayyaf.

Ibrado expressed confidence that the ongoing military campaign in Sulu and Basilan, along with the operations against suspected terror cells, would further decimate the Abu Sayyaf.

“If the operation is ongoing, and if you are successful in the operations, it (the neutralization efforts) will cascade. The more (chance) you have of defeating the enemies,” Ibrado added.

Ibrado said there is a standing directive to continue the offensive against the bandit group.

The Abu Sayyaf – or Bearer of the Sword – wrote its early history in blood, staging kidnappings, bombings and beheadings to draw attention, recruits and funds from the al-Qaeda terror network of international fugitive Osama bin Laden.

The homegrown terror group is listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and the United Nations.

Washington is helping the AFP in its campaign against the Abu Sayyaf.

Military intelligence officials disclosed the continuous offensive operations prevented the Abu Sayyaf from consolidating its remaining forces after their leader Khadafi Janjalani was killed by government troops during an encounter in 2006. – With James Mananghaya, Roel Pareño