Now it can be told that the ill-fated mission of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Bohol revealed more about the top ranking ASG members than we knew. The ASG lost Muamar Askali, alias Abu Rami, who was killed in Barangay Napo, Inabanga, Bohol, last April 11. Then last Saturday, Joselito Melloria, a.k.a. Abu Alih, who purportedly assumed leadership of the mission and acted as their guide was also killed in Clarin with three of his men. That's a loss of two ASG leaders.
Incidentally, during the 888 News Forum at the Marco Polo Plaza yesterday morning, we emphasized on two major issues. First; despite the barbarism of the ASG, who behead their captives and leave their bodies to rot in the open, the dead ASG members were given a decent burial according to Muslim tradition. In short, our military still showed their respect for the dead Abus!
Second; we saw in Facebook photos uploaded by our friends of small caves with openings hardly noticeable. I dare say that it is high time for our barangay captains to identify or conduct an inventory of all the big or small caves within their barangays and map them. This is one way we can immediately check whether there are new caves in a certain locality or not. I'm sure that the ASG who were intercepted by the 47th Infantry Division hid in many of the caves found in Inabanga or Clarin.
But that encounter by the military with the ASG last Saturday gave the military a jackpot or mother lode of information when the driver of the black Nissan Navara Renierlo Dongon, a.k.a. "Kudri", was captured with his girlfriend who turned out to Superintendent Cristina Nobleza, Deputy Director of the Crime Laboratory in Davao. As PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa quipped; "She is sleeping with the enemy!"
Dongon was apparently known as an Abu Sayyaf bomb maker and is a wanted suspect in the Cagayan de Oro bombing five years ago. Dongon is also related to ASG founder Abdurajik Janjalani and brother-in-law of slain ASG leader Abu Solaiman. Also captured in that incident was the mother-in-law of the slain bomb maker Zulkifi bin Hir, a.k.a. Marwan, who was killed in the operation that led to the infamous Mamasapano massacre on January 2015. That was a huge haul in one night!
Incidentally, we read in the news that Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña was willing to give P100,000 to the habal-habal driver in Clarin who tipped the police of the presence of the ASG. Unfortunately this act is after the fact. I'm sure that the habal-habal driver will get the P1 million reward offered by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. So there really is no need for Mayor Osmeña to give his own reward to that driver.
Finally, my nephew told me that his friend sent him a photo looking like Rambo texting him that he was off to Bohol to look for the remaining ASG. I'm not sure if this is an isolated case or perhaps the offer of P1 million for the head of each ASG might have enticed would-be Rambos to become vigilantes hunting for the missing Abus. Now the question is will the military accept those armed volunteers or vigilantes in their search for the ASG?
***
Making the headline news is a report that Jude Sabio, lawyer for self-confessed Davao Death Squad member Edgar Matobato, went to the Hague to file charges of crimes against humanity against Pres. Duterte at the International Criminal Court. With this news the International Press is having a heyday, although from the looks of it the ICC, because of its rules, cannot yet have any jurisdiction on the case against Pres. Duterte because not all legal avenues were exhausted by Sabio. But they are winning the propaganda war.
The problem with the Duterte administration is it is losing the propaganda battle especially with the international press. For instance, while Time Magazine put Pres. Duterte as the most influential person in the world. They also put in Sen. Leila de Lima as a famous icon. Obviously Time Magazine reporters were given only one side of the story of Sen. De Lima! It is high time for a PR offensive in the international scene by Pres. Duterte!