EDITORIAL - A threat that has not been neutralized

Remember Commander Robot? He was the ogre from Sulu whom everyone wanted caught, locked up, even quartered and fed to the dogs. That was less than two months ago. Now Ghalib Andang, the high-profile "Commander Robot" of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, has been forgotten by the nation, together with his cohorts and their two remaining hostages.

This week one of the hostages, American Jeffrey Craig Edwards Schilling, reminded the nation of his existence, appealing to the government to negotiate for his release. He was ailing, hungry and depressed, Schilling said, but otherwise holding up to the rigors of life on the run in the hinterlands of Mindanao. The government has refused to negotiate for Schilling’s release, noting that he freely walked into the Abu Sayyaf trap accompanied by his Filipina wife, a cousin of Abu Sayyaf commander Abu Ahmad Salayuddi. There are even unconfirmed reports that Schilling was negotiating an arms deal on behalf of the terrorists.

Still, Schilling’s message should remind the nation that there remains a major security problem to be dealt with in Mindanao. Schilling said he was sure he was no longer in Sulu, that he had been moved by his captors either to Tawi-Tawi or the Abu Sayyaf’s original stronghold in Basilan. This means the faction holding him has managed to give pursuers the slip in Sulu, where the military offensive is concentrated.

Since the start of the offensive, almost all the hostages have escaped or been rescued. Hundreds of Abu Sayyaf regulars have also surrendered or been captured. None of the commanders, however, has been arrested, and not a single centavo of the millions of dollars paid to the Abu Sayyaf as ransom has been recovered. By now all the money could have been spent to buy firearms, ammunition and other supplies.

Also, the Abu Sayyaf’s Basilan-based core group led by Khadafi Janjalani remains intact. This faction is responsible for the brutal terrorist attacks that earned the group its notoriety in the past decade. The Abu Sayyaf is fully capable of resuming its terrorist campaign. After several months, the full-scale military offensive in Mindanao has not neutralized this threat.