EDITORIAL - Still a threat

Schilling who? Only four months ago the full name of the American held hostage by the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf came easily to mind. Now his abductors are practically begging the government to negotiate for the freedom of Jeffrey Craig Edwards Schilling, who has reportedly started coughing blood in the jungles of Sulu. In this period of national turbulence, however, even a hemorrhaging Schilling is unlikely to bring any government official to the negotiating table.

But this laughable development should not be taken as an indication that the most vicious terrorist group in the country has been neutralized. Rather, it should be regarded as part of a dangerous calm before the storm – a calm that has allowed the Abu Sayyaf to regain its strength. You can expect "the Bearer of the Sword" to rise again, ready to sow terror especially in those portions of Mindanao that serve as the group’s base.

The terrorists can thank the political crisis in Metro Manila for giving them a respite from what appeared to be a military search-and-destroy operation. Even before all the Abu Sayyaf’s hostages had been freed, the military had launched a full-scale offensive in Sulu, which eventually led to the freedom of two French journalists and three Malaysians. But ever since Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Singson triggered the events that precipitated Joseph Estrada’s downfall, the military campaign has stalled.

The lull has surely allowed the rebels to regroup and consolidate their forces. For sure it has also allowed the beneficiaries of around $20 million in ransom payments to use the money to boost the group’s firepower and logistics. The military offensive was concentrated in Sulu, base of the faction led by Ghalib "Commander Robot" Andang. But the original terrorist cell headed by Khadafi Janjalani is based in Basilan and was not touched.

The ransom payments have not been recovered while Janjalani, Andang and the other commanders have not been captured. The government may ignore the existence of Schilling and the other remaining hostage, Filipino Roland Ullah. But the Abu Sayyaf threat remains, and one day soon it will explode in the face of the new administration.