US ready to release Dulmatin bounty

MARAGONDON, Cavite – US Ambassador Kristie Kenney said the $10-million bounty for the neutralization of Indonesian bomber Dul­matin would go to the “brave citizens” who provided information on his whereabouts to the military.

Kenney made this statement pending the official results of the DNA test that would verify if the remains found by the military following an encounter in Panglima Sugala, Tawi-Tawi last Jan. 31, were indeed that of Dulmatin, the most wanted member of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group.

If the test confirms this, Kenney said they would find out who was responsible for Dulmatin’s neutralization and make sure the tipster gets the hefty reward.

“Usually, in these cases, a lot of brave citizens have contributed information (to) the Armed Forces of the Philippines… So we’ll look who’s responsible and make sure they get the money,” she said.

Soldiers involved in operations leading to the neutralization of terrorists are not entitled to rewards because, according to Kenney, they were just performing its duties.

“(The reward) goes to the brave civilians because the men in uniform are doing their duty and we’re proud that they are doing so. So it goes to civilians who have stepped forward to the service of their country and put their lives at risk in doing so,” she said.

Kenney said that regardless of the official findings of forensics experts from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police, she is congratulating the Armed Forces for doing a “tremendous job of giving their lives in the South to track down terrorists and people who destroyed our ways of life.”

“It’s a great partnership and it’s not only making our lives more peaceful and safer but as we were talking earlier it’s making our lives more prosperous,” she said.

She said the results of the DNA test will probably be out in the next couple of weeks.

Esperon, meanwhile, said they were verifying reports that Dulmatin’s cohort, Umar Patek, who carries a $1-million bounty, was wounded in the Tawi-Tawi encounter.

Dulmatin and Patek were both tagged in the 2002 bombing in the resort island of Bali, Indonesia, which killed more than 200 people and considered to be the worst terrorist attack in Southeast Asia.