EDITORIAL – Finish them off

Remember the Jehovah’s Witnesses kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu last year? The nation had largely forgotten, until two of the four women hostages were found wandering the other day in Sulu. Earlier, two other Abu Sayyaf captives – both Indonesian sailors – also managed to slip away from their captors. That leaves only Norie Bendijo and Flora Montulo, both members of the Jehovah’s Witness, in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf. Will they have to wait for American soldiers to secure their freedom?

President Arroyo and Armed Forces officials were quick to point out that Emily Mantic and Cleofe Montulo walked to freedom Friday night because their Abu Sayyaf captors had been worn down by the military’s relentless pursuit. That may be true. But public applause would be louder if more Abu Sayyaf hostages were actually rescued by the military. And the applause would be greater if the Armed Forces of the Philippines could finish off this ragtag band, without waiting for Americans to do the job.

Last year joint military exercises between Philippine and American forces in Basilan, combined with a quick, corruption-free development program for the province, drove the Abu Sayyaf away from the island that had been its stronghold for close to a decade. The group’s flamboyant spokesman met his end off the Zamboanga peninsula. Phi-lippine troops, aided by US technology, rescued American hostage Gracia Burnham. Her husband Martin and Filipina nurse Edibora Yap were killed, but the operation ended the hostage crisis that started in Palawan.

Remnants of the Abu Sayyaf made their way to Sulu, stronghold of ano-ther Abu Sayyaf faction. They promptly made their presence felt, kidnapping three Indonesian sailors on June 17, then taking hostage a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses on their way to Jolo town to sell cosmetic products on Aug. 21. Two of the hostages, one of them Cleofe Montulo’s husband Lemuel, were decapitated and their heads dumped in the Jolo market.

Since the end of the joint military operations, the AFP has captured or killed some of the top commanders of the Abu Sayyaf. A handful of notorious Abu Sayyaf members are still out there, among them chieftain Khadaffi Janjalani and Ghalib "Commander Robot" Andang, but the operation in Sulu is mainly a mopping-up campaign. Surely the Philippine military, even without outside help, can finish off these brigands.