Abu Sayyaf, hostages still in Jolo - AFP
By Aris Ilagan
Top officials of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have expressed
belief that the members of the Abu Sayyaf Group along with their 17 foreign and local
captives are still holed out in Sulu, avoiding armed confrontation with government
troopers.
Gen. Angelo Reyes, AFP chief of
staff, said that military and police blockades were established in strategic checkpoints
in several areas around Patikul and Talipao towns where the Abu Sayyaf members were
believed to be hiding.
Reyes rejected claims of
residents who fled the two towns as a result of the ongoing skirmishes that the Abu Sayyaf
members have escaped the military and police cordon.
Military intelligence reports,
he added, indicate that the hostages, which included three Malaysians who were abducted
from a diving resort near Sabah, are still alive in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf.
"Some of the Abu Sayyaf
have been dispersed into smaller groups, some of them have remained intact, which became
the reason why there were only skirmishes," Brig. Gen. Generoso Senga, AFP spokesman,
said.
The rebels have been resorting
to "hit-and-run" tactics against the pursuing AFP soldiers, he added.
Military authorities also said
that based on information provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), none of the
96 Filipinos who were taken for questioning by Malaysian authorities for entering their
territorial seawaters are Abu Sayyaf members.
Many of them were proven to
fishermen whose vessels drifted to the Malaysian waters, they added.
Senga also stressed that the
soldiers in Mindanao "are in high morale in view of the full support assured to them
by President Estrada."
"The President is
satisfied because he knows the soldiers are sacrificing and determined to follow the
instructions. We in the AFP are also determined to accomplish our mission," the AFP
spokesman assured.
Director General Panfilo
Lacson, PNP chief, supported Reyes' statements that the Abu Sayyaf members are trapped
within Sulu.
With the strategic positions of
government checkpoints and blockades, Lacson said that the military and police elements
have established an airtight situation against the kidnap gang.
Although he admitted that the
authorities are experiencing difficulty in determining Abu Sayyaf members from the
residents since they have sought refuge in community areas of Patikul and Talipao.
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