AFP Chief-of-Staff, Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay. (File photo)
While placing Sulu under martial law remains an option following Monday's twin bombings, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief-of-Staff, Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay, on Thursday said what is needed now are measures that can be readily implemented against terrorist groups.
"The re-imposition of Martial Law in Mindanao is one of the options that we are considering but we need right now are measures that can be immediately implemented so we could right away arrest and check on activities of terrorist groups operating not only in Jolo, Sulu but in the entire island of Mindanao," he said in an interview with CNN Philippines.
Gapay said the proposal to place Sulu under martial would still need to undergo a thorough legislative process which could take time.
He added that what the AFP is pushing for now is the strict implementation of Proclamation 55 where President Rodrigo Duterte placed Mindanao under a state of national emergency due to lawless violence after the September 2016 bombing in Davao City, which killed 14 people and wounded over 60 others.
Another option, he added, is the newly-enacted Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
"Another thing we now have Anti-Terror(ism) Law of 2020 which will be put to test since we already have a case now, we had twin blasts in Jolo, so we are recommending and proposing the implementation of Presidential Proclamation 55 and as well as the implementation of the Anti-Terror Law, that’s what our immediate action to address immediately the threat of terrorism in Mindanao," Gapay said.
He added that these two measures are more than sufficient for the AFP to go after terrorists.
Philippine Army commander, Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, earlier recommended that Sulu be placed under martial law following the twin blasts.
Also, Gapay believes that Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Mundi Sawadjaan, whom Sobejana tagged as the mastermind behind the blast, is still in Sulu as the AFP immediately implemented a lockdown after the attacks.
Mundi is the nephew of Hatib Sawadjaan, the alleged ISIS emir in the Philippines, and reported as earlier neutralized by security forces.
"Immediately after the incident we had a lockdown and right now we are guarding the borders and really controlling the entry and exit of people and resources in the process," Gapay said.
He added that they have some information on the hideouts of these terrorists and troops are now operating in "target areas".
Cutting ASG support
Meanwhile, Gapay said surveillance operations on the ASG have yielded leads on the entities providing support to them.
"There are some leads, actually not only during the Marawi Crisis but in our continuing intelligence coverage of this Abu Sayyaf Group, so we have identified some NGOs (non-government organizations), conduits and there is also evidence that manifest foreign funding and we are really coordinating with (the) AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council) here and other entities too, in checking these accounts suspected to be the channel of funding for the Abu Sayyaf Group," Gapay said.
Aside from funding support, he added that the AFP has also detected personalities supporting the ASG who are now subject to monitoring.
More cops in Sulu
Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Archie Gamboa, directed Special Action Force director, Major Gen. Clifton Empiso, and Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region head, Brig. Gen. Manuel Abu, to augment police forces in Sulu.
“Unless there is sufficient evidence establishing criminal involvement or administrative lapses leading to the attack, the PNP maintains full confidence in our ground personnel,” Gamboa said in response to calls that the Jolo Police Station be relieved over the incident.
Gamboa has also issued orders directing a deeper probe on the Jolo blasts by mobilizing the Philippine Bomb Data Center (PBDC) and Crime Laboratory for technical support to ongoing investigation on the blasts.
He added the PBDC analysts will seek to determine any specific bomb signature of the explosives that were detonated based on the reconstruction of forensic evidence gathered by the Crime Laboratory and other security forces that responded to the incident.
Any specific bomb signature that will be determined from the technical analysis will be compared with known bomb signatures from previous incidents that are stored in the PBDC database to possibly identify the person or group to whom the bomb signature can be associated with, Gamboa said. (with reports from Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1113547
"The re-imposition of Martial Law in Mindanao is one of the options that we are considering but we need right now are measures that can be immediately implemented so we could right away arrest and check on activities of terrorist groups operating not only in Jolo, Sulu but in the entire island of Mindanao," he said in an interview with CNN Philippines.
Gapay said the proposal to place Sulu under martial would still need to undergo a thorough legislative process which could take time.
He added that what the AFP is pushing for now is the strict implementation of Proclamation 55 where President Rodrigo Duterte placed Mindanao under a state of national emergency due to lawless violence after the September 2016 bombing in Davao City, which killed 14 people and wounded over 60 others.
Another option, he added, is the newly-enacted Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
"Another thing we now have Anti-Terror(ism) Law of 2020 which will be put to test since we already have a case now, we had twin blasts in Jolo, so we are recommending and proposing the implementation of Presidential Proclamation 55 and as well as the implementation of the Anti-Terror Law, that’s what our immediate action to address immediately the threat of terrorism in Mindanao," Gapay said.
He added that these two measures are more than sufficient for the AFP to go after terrorists.
Philippine Army commander, Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, earlier recommended that Sulu be placed under martial law following the twin blasts.
Also, Gapay believes that Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Mundi Sawadjaan, whom Sobejana tagged as the mastermind behind the blast, is still in Sulu as the AFP immediately implemented a lockdown after the attacks.
Mundi is the nephew of Hatib Sawadjaan, the alleged ISIS emir in the Philippines, and reported as earlier neutralized by security forces.
"Immediately after the incident we had a lockdown and right now we are guarding the borders and really controlling the entry and exit of people and resources in the process," Gapay said.
He added that they have some information on the hideouts of these terrorists and troops are now operating in "target areas".
Cutting ASG support
Meanwhile, Gapay said surveillance operations on the ASG have yielded leads on the entities providing support to them.
"There are some leads, actually not only during the Marawi Crisis but in our continuing intelligence coverage of this Abu Sayyaf Group, so we have identified some NGOs (non-government organizations), conduits and there is also evidence that manifest foreign funding and we are really coordinating with (the) AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council) here and other entities too, in checking these accounts suspected to be the channel of funding for the Abu Sayyaf Group," Gapay said.
Aside from funding support, he added that the AFP has also detected personalities supporting the ASG who are now subject to monitoring.
More cops in Sulu
Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Archie Gamboa, directed Special Action Force director, Major Gen. Clifton Empiso, and Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region head, Brig. Gen. Manuel Abu, to augment police forces in Sulu.
“Unless there is sufficient evidence establishing criminal involvement or administrative lapses leading to the attack, the PNP maintains full confidence in our ground personnel,” Gamboa said in response to calls that the Jolo Police Station be relieved over the incident.
Gamboa has also issued orders directing a deeper probe on the Jolo blasts by mobilizing the Philippine Bomb Data Center (PBDC) and Crime Laboratory for technical support to ongoing investigation on the blasts.
He added the PBDC analysts will seek to determine any specific bomb signature of the explosives that were detonated based on the reconstruction of forensic evidence gathered by the Crime Laboratory and other security forces that responded to the incident.
Any specific bomb signature that will be determined from the technical analysis will be compared with known bomb signatures from previous incidents that are stored in the PBDC database to possibly identify the person or group to whom the bomb signature can be associated with, Gamboa said. (with reports from Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1113547
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