With the release of six Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) captives over
the weekend, the military is now focusing on the safe and immediate recovery of
16 remaining hostages still in the clutches of the terrorists.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Brig.
Gen. Restituto Padilla on Monday said this can be broken down into 12 foreign
hostages and four Filipinos currently being held by the ASG.
"As of the last validation and based on what we
received from Western Mindanao Command this morning, lets go to the numbers
first, there remains 12 foreign hostages in the hands of the ASG, the locals,
there are four locals also in their hands. Based on our monitoring and our
feedback from the field we believe that most of these hostages are still in
good condition and that's what we are aiming to accomplish, to rescue them or
recover them safely," he added.
Last Saturday, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad was released by
the bandits in Sulu. This was followed by the freeing of three Indonesian
fishermen Lorence Koten, Teo Doros Kofong and Emmanuel Arakian nighttime of
Sept. 17 and of telecom workers Daniela Taruc and Levy Gonzales last Sept. 18.
All hostages were released in the Sulu area.
Sekkingstand was freed in Sulu around 4 p.m. Saturday. The
former was abducted together with John Ridsel, Robert Hall and Marites Flor on
Sept. 21, 2015 at the Ocean View Resort in Samal Island
Both Hall and Ridsell were beheaded by the bandits while
Flor was freed by the ASG last June 22.
While the three Indonesian fishermen were abducted off Lahad
Datu, Sabah last July 9 while telecom workers
Taruc and Gonzales were kidnapped in Patikul, Sulu last Aug. 9.
Padilla said operations will continue until the ASG's
capacity to launch lawless and terror activities are neutralized or totally
eliminated.
"The mission is very specific, to degrade the
capability of this group to launch or conduct any of the activities that they
have been doing, so in order to accomplish that we must pursue this operation
to its rightful end," he said.
"Our primordial concern right now are the safety of the
hostages but then after that is the complete security of the island (Sulu) and
its long term development as a potential investment site in the future,"
Padilla pointed out.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=924241
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