2 ASG siblings surrender to Basilan police

TIPO-TIPO, BASILAN – Two brothers, who are fighters of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), surrendered to the Basilan police Saturday.

Acting Provincial Police Director Sr. Supt. Rufino Finot identified the surrenderers as Jamad Habil Habing, and his younger brother Jem Habil Habing.

The Habings likewise gave up an AK-47 and M-16 rifles, and M203 grenade launcher, and dozens of rounds of ammunition.

They surrendered to Inot’s men in Barangay Lagayas here.

Both are residents of Sittio Bohe Pansul, Brgy Baguindan, Tipo-tipo, Basilan and are the seventh and eighth sibling, respectively, in a brood of 11.

But what caught Finot’s interest was the request made by Jamad that authorities held he and his brother to go back to school. Jamad said he finished the first semester of his second year as a criminology student.

The Habing brothers said their uncle was beheaded and killed by ASG members.

Out of fear that they might suffer the same fate as their relative, they befriended some terrorists who used to road their barangay before they were recruited into the group in 2015 by men under the late ASG Sub-Leader Parrung Tede.

They also revealed they were present in the bloody encounter in Baguindan in 2016 where 18 soldiers were killed.

According to them, some ASG members were already surrendering after Tede’s death in an airstrike in Pololomot, Upper Mahataling, Sumisip town last May.

The Habings said they wanted to go back to complete their criminology degrees because they wanted to become policemen.

They are now under the custody of that Basilan Police Provincial Office for debriefing and proper disposition.