AFP chief on JIM: They are history

MANILA, Philippines - They’re history.

This was how Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr. on Monday described the Justice for Islamic Movement (JIM) following the arrest of its leader Mohammad Ali Tambako and his four companions in General Santos last Sunday.

“It’s (arrest) a great accomplishment because we were able to nip in the bud this alleged new group, a breakaway group from the BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters),” Catapang said in a press briefing in Villamor Airbase.

“It’s really a big loss for them because they were just starting but their founder or the man behind all these initiatives was already captured. I think they are now history and they will have a hard time to recover,” he added.

Catapang said the arrest of Tambako and his cohorts were “made possible through the excellent coordination among different government agencies.”

A former military affairs vice chairman of the BIFF, Tambako is believed to be among those who brutally killed the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers who figured in the Mamasapano clash last January 25.

He allegedly coddled wanted Filipino bomb expert Basit Usman and five foreign terrorists in Maguindanao.

Tambako was also implicated in the beheading of farmer Ricarte Dionio in Midsayap, North Cotabato, where he led an attack against a Christian community in 2013. He is now facing a string of criminal cases filed by a local court in General Santos.

The manhunt for Tambako ended Sunday night when he and four companions were nabbed by security forces in a law enforcement operation in General Santos City. Tambako was arrested by authority of a warrant issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 15 of Cotabato City for murder and frustrated murder.

Also arrested were Datukan Sato Sabiwang, Ali Valley Ludisman, Mesharie Edio Gayak and Abusahma Badrudin Guaimil alias Hansela Omar.

The five were arrested while on their way to way to the seaport of General Santos City in Barangay Calumpang. Authorities seized three grenades and four short firearms from the suspects.

Tambako and his companions were brought via Fokker plane to Villamor Airbase in Pasay at around 2 p.m. They were wearing orange t-shirts with the words “CIDG Detainee.” The suspects were then escorted to the Philippine National Police Main Headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City for inquest proceedings.

Operations to continue

Despite the arrest, security forces will continue to run after Tambako’s followers and the remaining BIFF members in Maguindanao.

“We will still hunt down the BIFF. However, we will allow some areas where there are evacuees to return to their homes,” Catapang said.

More than 90,000 individuals or about 19,000 families in Maguindanao have been displaced because of the military’s offensives against the BIFF.

The clashes have also left more than 100 BIFF members and six soldiers dead since February, according to military officials.

Catapang said the next phase of their operation would involve the implementation of peace and development projects. He said President Aquino has allowed the military to spend P67-million for programs that would address the root causes of armed conflict in Mindanao.

Among the projects to be funded is the replacement of the wooden bridge in Mamasapano that witnessed the deaths of 44 SAF members in the hands of the combined forces of the BIFF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

“The wooden bridge in that encounter will be now made into a bailey bridge or a steel bridge or a bridge of peace as a symbolic gesture that we want peace in Mindanao,” Catapang said.

Where is Usman?

Officials are optimistic that Tambako would be able to relay information about the whereabouts of Usman, one of the targets of the SAF operation in Mamasapano last January.

“He will be investigated so we hope that he can also give to us those information that he want to know,” Catapang said.

Usman has been indicted for his participation in bombing incidents in Mindanao, including the bombing in General Santos City in 2002 which killed 15 and injured 60. He managed to evade the police commandos involved in the covert operation in Mamasapano and is believed to be hiding in Maguindanao.

When asked how Tambako and his companions were able to evade authorities in Maguindanao, Catapang said: “Well, the area is very wide. They can get away. The area is very porous. They know the terrain.”

“They can move around but what is important is we know where they are and we will be running after them,” he added.

Tambako completed his special education at the Ulama Doctrine School in Libya and took his graduate studies in Cairo, Egypt. The JIM leader also underwent elite force trainings in Pakistan.

Officials said Tambako had broken away with the BIFF because of differences with the group’s leadership.

Catapang said Tambako has links with the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah and high value targets like Marwan, Muawiya, Usman, Umar Patek, and Albader Parad. 

He is believed to have established a network of contacts among the notorious Islamic Fundamentalists around the world because of his exposure to foreign terror networks in the Middle East.