Global threat

As events marking the worst terrorist attack on American soil began yesterday, the Philippines grappled with its homegrown violent extremists. A Malaysian-registered boat was waylaid Saturday off the coast of the scuba diving resort island of Pom-Pom in Sabah. Three of the fishing crew were taken by the gunmen. Although officials have not named any group, security officials reportedly believe the kidnappers are members of the Abu Sayyaf.

The Sulu-based terrorists have claimed responsibility for the bombing of the crowded night market in Davao City earlier this month that killed 14 people and wounded about 70 others. In subsequent days, bomb threats were received by several establishments from Mindanao to Metro Manila.

While the threats mostly proved to be hoaxes, law enforcers can’t afford to ignore any report. The Abu Sayyaf has conducted bombings in Metro Manila. In 2004 they set off a bomb on a SuperFerry in Manila Bay that left 116 people dead. Months before the Sept. 11, 2001 al-Qaeda attacks in New York and Washington, the Abu Sayyaf together with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were blamed for simultaneous bombings in Manila and Makati, including a Light Rail Transit coach, which killed 22 people on Rizal Day, Dec. 30, 2000.

Kidnapping for ransom has become one of the Abu Sayyaf’s top means of raising funds. Last July, the group kidnapped five Malaysian tugboat crewmembers also off the coast of Sabah, just a month after releasing 14 Indonesian sailors seized in two high-seas attacks. Last year the Abu Sayyaf beheaded a Malaysian hostage.

In many countries, from the poorest states to advanced economies, terrorists have struck. The annual commemoration of the 9/11 attacks, in which 20 Filipinos were among the nearly 3,000 fatalities, serves to emphasize the global nature of the threat – one that calls for a global response and cooperation.