AFP chief to troops: Finish Abu Sayyaf before year-end

May 17, 2018

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Carlito Galvez has ordered Sulu commander to finish the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the province before the end of this year.

According to Col. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Joint Task Force Sulu, this was Galvez's directive to the government troops when he visited the province last Wednesday.

“Focused military operations, give premium to the rescue of the remaining kidnap victims, of course neutralization of the Abu Sayyaf, and be active partners in the development here in Sulu,” he said.

“That’s the specific instruction of our chief of staff, because he will be retiring by December,” he added.

Apparently, it has become the habit of every military chief since the previous administrations to order finishing the Abu Sayyaf bandits. But so far, no one has succeeded.

With the directives of the chief of staff, Sobejana said the JTF Sulu is now making an adjustment on its strategy against the terrorists to attain the objective.

“We are now reassessing, we are trying to reassess and probably make some adjustments on our strategy,” he said.

“(We are doing our) best effort, we are doing everything, we are using all available war materiel, resources, ground mobility, air and sea, so it is hard to give a timeline because sometimes it leads to hasty actions. (We are just doing our) best effort but very deliberate,” he added.

Sobejana also mentioned that the JTF Sulu will soon launch a massive combat operation against the ASG as more troops were send in the province to support the fight against the terrorists.

“I have additional one ranger battalion here, the main body will arrive today. Very soon we will launch very massive focused military operations to rescue the remaining victims and bring down the strength of the ASG into an insignificant level,” he said.

Sobejana said because of the additional forces from Marawi City, the JTF Sulu will now have a total of eleven battalions in the province.

“Currently, I have 10 battalions, so it is now 11 battalions, plus the special units that I have here. I am not going to mention what are these special units, (in order) not to compromise (our operation),” he said. Robina Asido/DMS