EDITORIAL – Back to Basilan?

Over three years ago Khadaffy Janjalani slipped out of Basilan, stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group, before the start of the Balikatan joint military exercises between Philippine and US troops. The exercises, which marked the return to the country of US forces since the shutdown of their bases here in 1992, drove out the Abu Sayyaf from its jungle base in Basilan, with several members bringing with them a Filipina nurse and two American hostages as they fled.

Only one of the hostages, American Gracia Burnham, was rescued; her husband Martin and nurse Edibora Yap were killed in a clash between the Abu Sayyaf and government forces. Aldam Tilao, the group’s flamboyant spokesman better known as Abu Sabaya, was also killed as he fled the Zamboanga peninsula on a speedboat. Balikatan, followed by development programs, ended the decade-long reign of terror of the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan.

Janjalani, with his group fragmented and his civilian support network dismantled, should have been hunted down relentlessly. Instead he managed to make his way to Central Mindanao, where by most accounts he found refuge in areas protected by certain members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Reports said he managed to put together a new core group focused on terrorism rather than kidnapping for ransom, and link up with the Southeast Asian terror cell Jemaah Islamiyah. That alliance is believed responsible for the bombing of a ferry at the mouth of Manila Bay last year that left over 100 people dead and missing.

Now Janjalani may be back in Basilan, if an arrested terror suspect is telling the truth. Hilarion del Rosario Santos III, leader of the Rajah Solaiman Group that has been tagged in the bus bombing in Makati last Valentine’s Day, told interrogators that he met with Janjalani in Central Mindanao last month and that the Abu Sayyaf chieftain has since returned to Basilan with several followers. The military is looking into the possibility that Janjalani has been joined by foreign JI militants Dulmatin and Umar Patek.

Earlier reports said the MILF was helping the military find Janjalani, and that a security cordon had been set up to prevent him from sneaking out of Central Mindanao. The possibility that he has returned to his group’s original base can only spell trouble. It took a decade and American backing to flush out the Abu Sayyaf from the jungles of Basilan. What will it take this time to get Janjalani?