Defense chief backs Duterte call for peace talks with Abu Sayyaf
DESPITE the atrocities the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) has committed and the government’s policy not to negotiate with terrorists, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana backed President Rodrigo Duterte’s call to hold peace talks with the bandit group but on a “limited” level.
“Yes, I do [support the peace talks]. If we have peace talks with the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines), why not the ASG?” Lorenzana told reporters in a text message on Sunday.
Lorenzana issued the statement in response to Duterte’s proposal to hold peace talks with the terrorist group following his signing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
The President called on the ASG not to wage war against the government while the BOL was being implemented, hoping that the Moro rebels will give the newly-signed law a chance.
Lorenzana said his support for the peace talks with the ASG would be limited to those who have not committed any capital offenses such as beheading foreigners and locals, kidnapping and disrupting peace and order in villages.
“[We are open with the peace talks], especially those who have not committed capital offenses. Those who decapitated hostages will have to answer for their crimes,” Lorenzana said.
“Yes, there are already surrenders and more feelers [from the ASG],” he said, when asked if the proposed negotiations with the terrorist group would prosper.
In March, Nhurhassan Jamiri, a leader of the ASG, yielded to the military in Basilan, along with 13 of his followers.
Jamiri was the overall Abu Sayyaf commander operating in several Basilan towns, including Tuburan, Albarka, Tipo-tipo, Akbar, Mohamad Adjul and Lamitan City by being involved in kidnap-for-ransom and extortion activities in these areas.
His group was involved in the Fort Pilar bombing in Zamboanga City last 2002, the ambush of marine troopers in 2007, which left 24 marines dead, the killing of 19 trainees of the Philippine Army special forces in Albarka and the 2001 Lamitan City siege.
Jamiri’s group was also involved in the hosting of seajacking and kidnapping of Vietnamese vessels and sailors crossing the Basilan Strait.
Lorenzana said, however, that the Abu Sayyaf leader was not off the hook despite his surrender as he would be held accountable for his crimes. DEMPSEY REYES
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