I really wonder

I really thought I wouldn't hear of this group anymore, but here they are again, in the news, in the most evil of reasons. The Abu Sayyaf Group is demanding thirty million pesos for the release of a Filipino-Chinese trader and her daughter who were abducted last week in Basilan. They were forcefully taken by armed men and taken by boat on another island. Why is this criminal/terrorist group still active, after all the encounters with the military? Why are they still able to wreak havoc and terror in Mindanao, which is supposed to be on the way to peace and progress what with the signing of the Bangsamoro Agreement? Shouldn't they have been wiped out by now? And they even have high-speed boats to use! How is that possible?

I watched "Special Forces" on the History Channel, where the Philippine Scout Rangers were featured. Their training is nothing short of amazing, where their physical, mental and psychological states are honed for them to become an awesome fighting unit that can go toe-to-toe with the best of the world. Can't they be sent to Basilan or wherever these ASG vermin are and wipe them out? The ASG are no match for the Army Scout Rangers, are they?

If the ASG continues to operate in the way they are known for, then peace and prosperity is still far from being achieved in Mindanao. If they are still able to extort, kidnap-for-ransom along with murder, then how will the region thrive? The MILF must step up its efforts in eradicating this group from the country. There is just no place for them in the grand scheme of things that are set to come into motion soon. They are literally the thorn on the side of peace and progress.

We talk of regional stability in the face of China's unilateral expansionism. We speak of balancing the forces for the seas to be free of the rule of one country, for trade to continue flowing freely. But what about the likes of the ASG that continue to operate with impunity? Shouldn't we wipe them out first, clean house so to speak? These are criminals that must be dealt with harshly. They have done nothing but put the country in a bad light, like we still need of that. If we have the soldiers and the military hardware to take them on, what is stopping us? Is there a hidden agenda, tacitly allowing them to keep on operating? Is there a master puppeteer controlling these puppets?

I really wonder.