Sayyaf man falls in Manila

Combined elements of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) and the Western Police District (WPD) arrested before dawn yesterday a suspected logistics officer of the Abu Sayyaf group in Intramuros, Manila.

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Narciso Abaya identified the captured bandit as Samir Hakim, alias Husim Samil, 43.

Abaya said that as logistics officer, Hakim was tasked to procure guns for the bandit group from the blackmarket in Metro Manila and then ship them to their lairs in Mindanao by passenger ships.

Hakim was presented to reporters yesterday at Camp Aguinaldo by Abaya and Maj. Gen. Pedro Cabuay, deputy chief for intelligence.

Abaya said Hakim, who carried a P150,000 bounty on his head, was working as a security guard of the Octagon security agency for the Ablaza pawnshop in Divisoria, Manila, when he was arrested. He was reportedly staying at Block 15, Isla Liit, Baseco Compound in Port Area, Manila.

Abaya said Hakim, who was positively identified by two former Dos Palmas resort kidnap victims — Angie Montealegre and Buddy Recio — as among their captors, managed to be employed as a security guard by using fake identification documents.

ISAFP records show that aside from the Dos Palmas resort kidnapping incident in Palawan in May 2000, Hakim also participated in the kidnapping of students and teachers of the Claret School in Tumahubong, Sumisip, Basilan.

He allegedly joined the Abu Sayyaf in 1988 and trained under Abu Sayyaf founder Abdurajak Janjalani before joining the group’s Mujahedin Commando group.

Superintendent Edgar Danao, chief of the WPD’s intelligence and investigation division, said that from 1991 to 1993, Hakim stayed in Barangay Culiat in Tandang Sora, Quezon City after he was designated by Janjalini to procure firearms for the group temporarily assigned in Metro Manila.

From 1993 to 1995, Hakim was also entrusted to keep and repack more than 100 assorted high-powered firearms in a safehouse in Quezon City allegedly bought by Talib Usman, an Abu Sayyaf leader, from a certain Colonel Apolinario of Camp Crame.

"Funds used to procure firearms were given by Janjalani out of ransom paid by a kidnap victim, who was a grandson of the owner of Bial Transit in Basilan, sometime in 1993," Danao said.

Hakim, he added, facilitated the transport of firearms at the North Harbor through the help of a certain Hurhaya Amin and Datu Ali, who bribe vessel guards with P4,000 for every shipment.

"Hakim was also the gang’s security detail when actor Robin Padilla was allowed entry to the Abu Sayyaf camp to negotiate for the release of the kidnap victims," Danao said.

At present, the military places the Abu Sayyaf’s strength at about 200 members, mostly based in the provinces of Sulu and Basilan.

Abaya said Hakim’s arrest proved that Abu Sayyaf bandits are now in Metro Manila, though he declined to say how many of them are in the metropolis and where they are holed up.

"There are now follow-up operations being conducted. We cannot tell you how many of them are here but there are quite a number of them," he said.

Government troops are now tracking down the leaders of the Abu Sayyaf group — Khaddafi Janjalani, Isnilon Hapilon and Hamsiraji Sali, each of whom carries a P5-million reward for their capture. — With AFP, Cecille Suerte Felipe