GOVERNMENT forces score another blow to the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf following the killing of its five members, including a known sub-leader, during a fierce fight in the jungles of Basilan province on Tuesday.

Major General Ben Dolorfino, commanding general of the Armed Forces of the Philippine’s Western Mindanao Command, identified one of the fatalities as Ridwan Musa.

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Dolorfino said elements of the 9th Marine Battalion Landing Team assaulted a lair of the Abu Sayyaf in sitio Bohe Kimeh in Barangay Tuburan in Hadji Mohammad Ajul town in Basilan around 1 a.m.

Abu Sayyaf bandits then put up a resistance until around 6:30 a.m. when they withdrew.

A government militiaman, Rommel delos Reyes, was injured in the operation.

After the fighting, Dolorfino said they recovered two enemy bodies. He said the death of Musa was based on intelligence information.

“We recovered two bodies…and as per intelligence report, three other Abu Sayyaf men were also killed, including Ridwan Musa… He is a sub-leader of the Abu Sayyaf, one of the known leaders of the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan,” said Dolorfino.

According to the official, Musa has a number of pending cases before the court, including kidnapping.

The killing of Musa is “definitely significant,” said Dolorfino.

Recovered after the fighting were: one M16 rifle, a Garand rifle, a rocket-propelled grenade, and an M79 grenade launcher.

Sayyafs as terrorists

Also on Tuesday, a Malacañang official endorsed the recommendation of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to brand the Abu Sayyaf Group as a terrorist organization stressing they are a menace that should be neutralized as soon as possible.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said the recommendations of NBI Regional Director and Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) chief Ricardo Diaz is “worth considering” given the criminal activities that the bandit group had previously engaged in.

“I think there is nothing wrong with that… because we should eliminate this completely. The Abu Sayyafs have given us enough trouble. So, if authorities like NBI recommends this, I think it is worth considering,” Fajardo said.

Diaz, in his recommendation, said the government is hoping that the efforts to proscribe the Abu Sayyaf Group as terrorists would prosper to eventually put an end to their receiving of international financial support.

The government, through the department of Justice, is awaiting a regional Trial Court to approve the proscription, which would then be raised with the United Nation Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC)-Terrorism Prevention Crime.

Diaz did not name the possible Abu Sayyaf financial supporters but said that the bandits’ activities include explosions and uses of landmines and bombs, kidnapping and abduction for the past years, and arson.

The NBI official cited Section 17 of the Human Security Act (HSA), or Republic Act 9372, in declaring the Abu Sayyaf Group a terrorist.

Section 17 states that "any organization, association, or group of persons organized for the purpose of engaging in terrorism, or which, although not organized for that purpose, actually uses the acts to terrorize mentioned in this act or to sow and create a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace in order to coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand shall, upon application of the Department of Justice before a competent Regional Trial Court, with due notice and opportunity to be heard given to the organization, association, or group of persons concerned, be declared as a terrorist and outlawed organization, association or group of persons by the said Regional Trial Court."

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, for her part, stressed her desire for long-lasting peace in Mindanao which she said is among the keys for the Philippines to become a great nation.

“Unless we come to terms with Mindanao, we will never achieve our goal of becoming a great nation,” she said as she likened the Philippines’ goal to that of the US, which overcame racial prejudice and became a great nation. (VR/JMR/Sunnex)