Tourists safe in Visayas

From the Visayas Daily Star (May 5): Tourists safe in Visayas

Tourists visiting prime tourist destination areas in the Visayas region need not worry about security, after another member of the Abu Sayyaf Group was captured yesterday by the military and police in Tubigon town, Bohol.

Maj. Gen. Jon Aying, commanding general of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, disclosed yesterday that they have not monitored any movements of Abu Sayyaf bandits from Mindanao to Visayas, except for those they had encountered and killed in Bohol last month.

Lt. Gen. Oscar Lactao, AFP Central Command chief, alsoconfirmed yesterdaythe capture of SaadSamadKiram. His arrest yielded a.45 caliber pistol with two magazines containing 12 rounds of ammunition, and a cellular phone.
Meanwhile, Aying said they have not received reports, as of this time,that ASG have supporters or contacts in the three Visayasregions, that include the Negros Island, Western and Central Visayas, except for JoselitoMilloria, who was killed with three other ASG bandits in Clarin town, Bohol on April 22.
He also dismissed the alleged involvement of Police Supt. Superintendent Maria Cristina Nobleza with the ASG, who,with her three companions, were intercepted at a military checkpoint in Bohol, as an isolated case.

Nobleza, and RenierloDongon, a suspected ASG bomb maker, who were on board a pick-up vehicle, were arrested April 29 when they tried to evade a military checkpoint laid out by government troops at the height of the pursuit operations that led to the death of four ASG bandits in Clarin town.

Milloria and the three others killed in Clarin town were remnants of a group of Sulu-based ASG bandits led by Abu Rami who sailed to Inabanga town in Bohol to join ASG sympathizers, who eventually died in the initial skirmish with government troops, whohad been alerted by civilians about the arrival of armed men on board three motorboats in the coastal town of Inabanga.

Aying said he believes that Nobleza has links to the ASG, and also raised the possibility that she could alsobe involved in the bombings in Davao and in some areas of Mindanao.

He added that Noblezawas being used as “security pass” by the ASG, considering that she is a police superintendent, who can easily penetrate an area without being questioned.

If the ASG, who managed to penetrate Bohol, with the help of Milloria, did not encounter the 3ID troops and the police, Aying said they may have also reached other tourist destinationsin Negros and Panay,

He again stressed the importance of mobilization of the community, not only against ASG, but other anti-peace and development lawless groups, in preventing violence extremism, citing as an example what Boholanos did.

At least 9 Abu Sayyaf members have since been killed in operations in the province, including Milloria.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines recently rewarded three Boholanons P4 million for tipping off authorities about the whereabouts of the Abu Sayyaf Group members, that resulted in the death of Milloria — alias Abu Alih — and three others.

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2017/May/05/topstory1.htm