The latest plans of the group linked with the al-Qaeda terror network were uncovered following the execution and beheading of a high school student last Friday in Lantawan town.
Meanwhile, Army troops captured yesterday morning an Abu Sayyaf bomb expert during a raid in the bandit’s hideout in Indanan town, Sulu.
Army commander Lt. Gen. Gregorio Camiling Jr. said Arcen Balidong Jandul also acted as video operator and cameraman for Abu Sayyaf leader Khaddafi Janjalani.
Jandul is undergoing tactical interrogation at Camp Bautista in Busbos, Jolo, he added.
Intelligence sources said the teachers, along with their students will be snatched by the band of Abu Sayyaf leader Hamsiraji Sali, alias Commander Jose Ramirez.
Sali and the remaining Abu Sayyaf leaders - Janjalani, Isnilon Hapilon, and Jainal Sali alias Abu Solaiman – each carry a $1-million bounty for their capture, which amount was put up by the US government.
The military had tagged them as behind the kidnapping of students and teachers, and Claretian priest Fr. Rhoel Gallardo last March 23, 2000.
The students and teachers were later freed in batches in exchange for food and provisions, but Gallardo and five other teachers were killed in a bloody rescue attempt.
Police said teachers assigned in remote areas have already asked for security men to escort them in their areas of assignment.
In Maguindanao, troops led by Pfc. Marlon Dublado recovered an improvised explosive device at a waiting shed in Crossing Saniag in Ampatian town.
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Joselito Kakilala said the explosive device was rigged with an alarm clock, an AA 1.5-volt battery, eight inches of electrical wire, a nine-volt battery, and an 81 mm mortar.
"The improvised bomb was properly disposed at about 6:30 p.m. of the same day by team led by Cpl. Joenifer Castante," he said.
Col. Bonifacio Ramos, 103rd Army Brigade commander, identified the beheaded student as Ariel Oroyo.
He said Oroyo was on his way to their farm to help his father when he was seized by unidentified gunmen in Upper Manggal, Lantawan town.
"But until now it is uncertain who perpetrated the senseless execution," he said. "But the Abu Sayyaf is known for its brutality by executing their helpless victims."
Ramos said continuous military pursuit operations have kept the bandits in Basilan in hiding and that the main Abu Sayyaf band has been "neutralized."
Oroyo’s kidnapping was not immediately known until his headless body was found in the bushes, the military said.– Mike Frialde