AFP chief to ASG: Surrender or die

From Malaya Business Insight (Sep 12): AFP chief to ASG: Surrender or die

ARMED Forces chief Gen. Ricardo Visaya has told the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)members to surrender or be “neutralized,” a term that means getting killed, apprehended, or arrested, in military parlance.

Col. Edgard Arevalo, chief of the AFP public affairs office, said Visaya issued the call to the Abu Sayyaf during a visit to troops of the Joint Task Force Sulu last Saturday.

Joint Task Group Sulu spokesman Col. Rodrigo Gregorio said the visit “aims to boost the morale of troops, be abreast of the conduct of operations and hear for himself the needs of the operating units as well as provide guidance and convey the message of President Rodrigo Duterte to ground troops on the war against terror.”

It was Visaya’s fifth visit to Sulu since assuming the top AFP post last July. Visaya is the first AFP chief of President Duterte who has said he wants the Abu Sayyaf, which is notorious for beheading some kidnap victims whose families could not pay ransom, destroyed during his term,

“Those in the Abu Sayyaf who want to surrender, the AFP will accept them, provided that they will release their hostages. If not, our soldiers will hunt them down and pursue them until all them are neutralized,” Visaya said.

Visaya said there is no timetable as to the Abu Sayyaf should be defeated. “No deadline is given on how long the focused military operations will last. We will hunt and pursue them as long as needed,” he said.

Government forces intensified operations against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu and Basilan last month. The operations have so far left 59 Abu Sayyaf men and 18 soldiers dead and scores wounded on both sides.

The bandit group is keeping around 20 foreign and Filipino hostages in Sulu, including eight Malaysian tugboat crew members.

Arevalo clarified that the military would still welcome Abu Sayyaf members who want to surrender, even without hostages getting released.

“If anyone of them would like to surrender even without KVs (kidnap victims) they will be received by the AFP. But if surrendering and freeing their victims is not their option, then they will be hunted down and [they will] face annihilation with the full might of the AFP,” Arevalo also said.

The military has beefed up its forces in Sulu as part of the renewed campaign against the Abu Sayyaf. There are about 7,000 soldiers now involved in the fight against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu, where bulk of the Abu Sayyaf’s 480 members are based, compared to just 2,500 troops in Basilan.

Arevalo said government forces are giving primacy to the safety of the hostages in the ongoing operations against the Abu Sayyaf.

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