Sayyaf getting fewer support, more condemnation from communities

The Abu Sayyaf is getting less support and more condemnation from communities and religious leaders in Sulu following the mass beheadings of their captives last week, security officials asserted yesterday.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, as chairman of the Anti-Terrorism Task Force, and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said in separate interviews that the Abu Sayyaf are apparently trying to show they are a force to reckon with when they beheaded all their seven hostages and sent the severed heads to military camps in Sulu.

Ermita and Gonzales claimed the Abu Sayyaf made more enemies out of their latest atrocity.

"The people of Sulu have already realized the Abu Sayyaf does them more harm than good because of the development work being done in the province that gave them peace," Gonzales said.

"We are hoping that with this kind of realization, we can easily neutralize them. It (lack of community support) should help," he said.

The Abu Sayyaf bandits led by Albader Parad beheaded all their seven hostages Thursday after failing to secure any ransom.

The bandits forced some residents to deliver the sacks containing the severed heads of the hostages to two military camps in Jolo, triggering an outcry from communities and Muslim leaders in the region.

The beheadings prompted the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to reassess its strategy against the al-Qaeda-linked bandit group.

But Ermita maintained the Abu Sayyaf is a spent force that has been practically wiped out, which forced what remained of them to regroup in Sulu.

He said the remnants wanted to exploit the recent violent encounter with the group of renegade Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) commander Habier Malik.

Ermita said aid and development being poured in Sulu by the government and foreign donor agencies, on top of the joint counter-terrorism exercises of the AFP and the US military, will make it difficult for the Abu Sayyaf to consolidate its remnants.

He said the latest atrocity committed by the Abu Sayyaf only earned the ire of Muslim religious leaders who have condemned the atrocity "as barbaric and inhuman."

Presidential Adviser for the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said villagers are helping out the military locate the suspected hideouts of the Abu Sayyaf.

"Sulu residents have slowly began to experience normalcy, peace and development, and when the Abu Sayyaf come and government troops try to flush them out, whatever gains they achieve in terms of livelihood are wiped out, they are displaced and have to be evacuated, and they are tired of that already," Dureza said.

As the military offensive against Malik and the Abu Sayyaf increased, international aid organizations and the United Nations pitched in to help the residents of Jolo in terms of aid and donations.

Former Sulu governor Sakur Tan, on the other hand, appealed to residents to get closer and cooperate with the authorities.

Tan also blamed the inaction of local authorities on the P5 million ransom demand by the Abu Sayyaf for the seven hostages.

He said the kidnapping and beheading of the Abu Sayyaf "is not something new."

"Except this time, there was little time to negotiate or was there really an attempt to negotiate for the victims," he said.

Sulu Gov. Benjamin Loong earlier denied inaction on their part when the ransom demand was made.

He said there were rescue efforts underway while they verified reports of the P5 million ransom demand made by Parad. – Paolo Romero, Roel Pareño