ISIS Study Group claims terrorists' presence in the Philippines

MANLIA, Philippines - A website analyzing global terrorism has refuted the United Nations’ (UN) statement that extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has no presence in the Philippines.

ISIS Study Group said it appears that the assessment of UN counter-terrorism expert Jean-Paul Laborde was based solely on the testimonies of President Aquino’s security officials who had told him the administration’s “drum beat.” 

“The United Nations in its infinite wisdom declared there’s ‘no Islamic State (IS) presence in the Philippines.’ We at the ISIS Study Group disagree with this assessment, and it wouldn’t be the first time that the UN was on the wrong side of history either,” the group said in its website.   

“So yes, there is an IS presence in the country, its growing, and there are opportunities to prevent this from happening – but this requires the Aquino government to take off the gloves and unleash his forces to go after all Black Flag affiliates and not just ASG (Abu Sayyaf group),” it added.

The website, which is supposedly maintained by retired US military men, claimed two “prominent” ISIS facilitators have visited the country to recruit fighters namely Australian Musa Ceratonio and Canadian Bilal Philips.

Ceratonio was arrested in Cebu last July while Philips, who denied having ties with terrorists, was nabbed in Davao in September. Both have been deported. 

Citing unnamed sources, ISIS Study Group said Ceratonio had been in contact with multiple senior Black Flag personalities like detained-Rajah Suleiman Movement leader Hilarion Del Rosario also known as ‘Ahmed Santos,’ a certain Isnadie Ibrahim, and a Tunisian who serves as a primary financier for Zulkifli bin Hir or “Marwan.”

“By the way, that Tunisian reportedly claims to have a deep network of contacts within the IS ranks operating inside Iraq. Perhaps P-Noy (President Aquino) should get NICA to start talking to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)?” the group said. 

The website claimed that Philips’ ties to the Philippines “run deep going back to his days doing Dawah (preaching) work in the country."

The ISIS Study Group said Philips’ had established contract Osama bin Laden’s brother-in-law Muhammad Jamal Khalifah, who was running a non-government organization that time. 

Philips, the group added, had also developed relationships with notable jihadist figures like the late Abu Sayyaf leader Khaddafi Janjalani, Rajah Suleiman Movement spiritual advisor and co-founder Sheik Omar Lavilla and Ahmed Santos.

“This relationship remains strong to this day,” ISIS Study Group said.

The group also cited the presence of Malaysian militant Mahmoud bin Ahmed in the south, calling it “another example of IS influence in the country.”

Ahmed, described by the website as “one of the most prominent IS recruiters in Southeast Asia,” has reportedly met with terrorists Marwan, Abdul Basit Usman, Leto Rebiyah or “Muawiyah” and Isnilon Hapilon.

“He’s currently assessed to be on Basilan Island under the protection of the Hapilon Abu Sayyaf faction’s Furji Indama-led sub-group,” the website said.

“We assess the purpose for his trip to the Philippines was to secure an arrangement with the terror groups in the country to facilitate the travel of Filipino fighters through alternative routes (e.g. the “Southern Backdoor” through Sabah) in exchange for said groups hosting training for Malaysian fighters,” it added. 

ISIS Study Group said the terrorists cannot train fighters in Malaysia because of the ongoing crackdown against ISIS supporters. 

“The Philippines, however, is an extremely permissive operating environment for Malaysian and Indonesian jihadists,” it said.

The group stressed the need to thwart the presence of foreign terrorists in the country to disrupt their funding and to deplete their capabilities.

“The terror groups in the Philippines are only as effective as the amount of foreign support they receive – which makes it all the more important to crush their presence in the country,” the group said.

“If you take those guys out, you will be removing the personnel with the direct links to foreign supporters from the equation. You do that, then the Philippines would become not so attractive to Malaysian and Indonesian terror,” it added.