Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, was one of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's most wanted terrorists. The FBI put up a sizeable bounty of $5 million for him to be neutralized.
A GMA News source said a DNA test has confirmed the claim of the PNP-Special Action Force that its commandos killed Marwan during its Jan. 25 operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
On the other hand, the FBI confirmed that the DNA sample it received from Philippine authorities was from Marwan.
A Malaysian said to be a member of the Jemaah Islamiyah, Marwan was the main target of the police operation which claimed the lives of 44 Philippine National Police-Special Action Force personnel.
The government had called the incident "a misencounter" with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, with which the government has an existing peace agreement, and the breakaway Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
[Video report]
Armand Escalante
Believed born in either January or October of 1966, he was either 48 or 49 years old when he was killed. He also went by the aliases Armand Escalante and Henri Lawi.
An explosives and demolitions specialist, the engineer Marwan also supplied explosives to terrorists and taught bomb making particularly to the Abu Sayyaf
Marwan was believed to be behind the bombing in Bali, Indonesia in 2002. He reportedly went into hiding in the Philippines in 2003.
He was charged in California for supporting terrorism in 2007.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines in February 2012 announced that Marwan was among the three most wanted terrorists killed during an air strike in Parang, Sulu.
But in August 2014, the authorities found out that Marwan was still alive.
Government troops went after Marwan until the fateful operation on Jan. 25.
It is believed that Marwan had two Filipino wives. It has yet to be determined if they were the two women who were found dead after the encounter with police commandos at Marwan's hut in Mamasapano.
One facilitator down
National Secrurity Advisor and Director General Cesar Garcia said that without Marwan, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other terrorist groups have no facilitators to assist their travels to the country.
"That's where Marwan and company becomes very important, because eventually some of those people who go there will want to come back," he explained.
However, Garcia said the base command for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's 105th Battalion must be reformed to change its status as a haven for international terrorists.
He also said that the Philippines must remain vigilant against terrorists due to new threats looming in the horizon.
"That generation of jihadists are slowly being accounted for, but there is a new breed of jihadists coming in. Self-radicalized, they have been radicalized in their local environment," he said.
Cagayan De Oro bombing
Cagayan De Oro bombing
In 2012, a bomb exploded outside the Maxandrea Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City.
At least one person was killed while three were wounded.
A second bomb was placed inside a bag that was slipped under a Nissan pickup of GMA News' Engineering Department.
The pickup driver, Allan Mangubat, had been billeted at Maxandrea Hotel at the time.
Mangubat did not notice the bag but was informed by the driver of another vehicle parked in the area that there was a bag under the pickup.
Police were summoned, and a bomb squad discovered the bomb inside the bag.
The PNP Region 10 had tagged one Francisco de Guzman a.k.a. Dongon as the suspect in the Maxandrea Hotel bombing.
Charges were filed against De Guzman, who is believed to be the brother-in-law of Marwan.
Four other suspects had been charged for the Maxandrea bombing, with the PNP indicating they included Marwan and three students.
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