Arroyo alerts Metro Manilans on Sayyaf

President Arroyo enlisted yesterday Metro Manila residents, including those from Muslim communities in Quiapo, Manila to act as the government’s "eyes and ears" by reporting the presence of any member of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group in their areas.

It was reported that the Abu Sayyaf fled its hideouts in Sulu and Basilan in Mindanao to hole up in Metro Manila.

They were branded a terrorist group by both Manila and Washington and were responsible for several kidnappings in Mindanao, including the abduction of foreigners. They have also earned notoriety for their preferred method of killing: decapitation.

In an official statement, the President asked the citizenry to maintain their vigilance and cooperate with the authorities in working for the capture of the Abu Sayyaf members hiding in the capital.

"Abu Sayyaf members have come to hide in Metro Manila, thinking they can get lost in the crowd. We must foil their plans by exercising effective community vigilance," the President said.

"We are also banking on the cooperation of Muslim community leaders, but every Filipino must be the eyes and ears of our campaign to bring (these) terrorists to justice," she said.

Even as she commended the police and military "for keeping an eye on their (Abu Sayyaf) possible lairs in the metropolis and capturing a notorious Abu Sayyaf member," the President sought the help of Metro Manila residents in keeping the capital’s communities safe from terrorists.

In his daily press briefing at the Palace yesterday, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye admitted that Abu Sayyaf rebels were able to evade the intensified military dragnet operations against them in Sulu and Basilan. "It’s very possible that some of them slipped through," he said.

Bunye earlier said the President was satisfied "with the substantial compliance" of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to meet the 90-day deadline for the elimination of the Abu Sayyaf that she issued on Feb. 28.

"These terrorists are really operating practically everywhere," the President said. "They are not only operating here, they are operating transnationally."

The President was referring to the Sipadan hostage incident in April 2000, when the Abu Sayyaf abducted foreign tourists, mostly westerners, from a beach resort in Sipadan, Malaysia and spirited their hostages to Mindanao aboard a pump-boat.

The Abu Sayyaf also earlier admitted its links with the al-Qaeda terror network of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden.

"That is why we have to really approach this problem together," Bunye said. "We have to work hand in hand in flushing out these terrorists."

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. ordered the investigation of the Octagon Security Agency in Ermita, Manila and the Ablaza pawnshop in Divisoria for hiring alleged Abu Sayyaf logistics officer Samir Hakim, alias Husim Samil, as a security guard.

Yesterday, Octagon denied that it has Hakim under its employ. The firm added that Ablaza has not hired its services.

Speaking on Ebdane’s behalf, PNP community relations group chief Director Ricardo de Leon said Hakim’s arrest at the pawnshop deserved a deeper probe.

De Leon said the Civil Security Group’s (CSG) Security Agency and Security Guards Division (SAGSD) has been assigned to look into the possible culpability of the Octagon Security Agency, owned and operated by Eduard Fulgencio, and the Ablaza pawnshop.

SAGSD director Senior Superintendent Raul Baclazo told The STAR in a telephone interview that while Octagon is a registered security agency, Hakim’s name is not listed in its roster of security guards. "There is no Samir Hakim listed in the copy of the (Octagon) security guard roster we have on file."

De Leon said security agencies are legally bound to enforce stringent measures in hiring security personnel by requiring applicants to submit original clearances before they are hired.

Hakim apparently landed his job as a security guard by submitting spurious documents to the Octagon Security Agency.

Failure to implement these guidelines, De Leon said, "is enough grounds for termination or revocation of the security agency’s license to operate."

The Ablaza pawnshop, on the other hand, could also have been remiss in hiring security guards, De Leon said. Agents of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) arrested Hakim in Intramuros, Manila at dawn Tuesday. — With Jaime Laude