09 July 2016•Update: 09 July 2016
By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s newly installed military chief visited the largest military base in southern Mindanao island Saturday to address efforts to combat the Abu Sayyaf militant group.
Gen. Ricardo Visaya told reporters at Western Mindanao Command’s Camp Navarro that his visit was aimed at putting their plans into action under a timeline based on Duterte's pledge to curb corruption and criminality within three to six months.
"Primarily, it's about our actions against the Abu Sayyaf. Our plan is against the Abu Sayyaf," he said in Zamboanga City. "This is our main objective. The president is very serious in solving this Abu Sayyaf problem, particularly on kidnappings."
Earlier this year, the group beheaded two Canadian hostages after ransoms failed to be paid. It has threatened to decapitate a Norwegian captured with them in September.
Visaya underlined that while security forces would continue putting pressure on the militants, operations must not endanger the lives of the remaining hostages -- among whom are a Dutch national, seven Indonesians and several Filipinos.
He also insisted that “on and off” clashes between government troops and militants in the majority Muslim island provinces of Basilan and Sulu -- strongholds of the Abu Sayyaf -- are not “an all-out war”.
He, however, stressed “we have to really keep them on the run” and “will do our best… [and] employ all our resources”.
The chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines also denied reports of the presence of Daesh in the Basilan towns of Ungkaya Pukan and Tipo-Tipo, although the Abu Sayyaf leaders on the island have pledged allegiance to the Middle East-based extremist group.
Visaya is set to meet with the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Mujiv Hataman, in the afternoon to plan how local government units can assist the military in its operations.
Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent province in the Philippines.
It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.
