Again, crush the Abu Sayyaf

Another president, another order to “crush” the Abu Sayyaf. We’ve heard the order since the group was organized and began pillaging villages, torching churches, decapitating hostages and raising funds through kidnapping and armed robbery. Over two decades later, despite the killing of its founding chieftains and top commanders, the group continues its terrorist activities and is currently keeping several foreigners as hostages in its stronghold in Sulu.

The resilience of the Abu Sayyaf illustrates the limits of a military response to terrorism. Since the neutralization of founder Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani and his brother Khadaffy, new militants have kept emerging to take over the leadership of the bandits. Each new commander is eventually killed by government forces. What is proving harder to neutralize is the group’s support network that is sustained by its ability to raise massive amounts of funds from kidnapping and other criminal activities.

With ransom payments made in dollars and the figures amounting to the equivalent of billions of pesos, even local officials have been suspected of providing protection to the Abu Sayyaf in its banditry. If certain local officials have been lured by the huge profits in the illegal drug trade, they can be dazzled by the amounts earned in kidnapping for ransom.

If President Duterte truly wants the Abu Sayyaf threat crushed, he must see to it that the principal coddlers of the group are neutralized like the gunmen. At the same time, gains from victories in counterterrorism must be reinforced by development efforts in the affected communities. Local residents must feel the dividends of a secure environment; they must have a stake in protecting their own neighborhoods.

A president who has instilled fear among lawbreakers is in a good position to demand cooperation from local officials in the areas where the Abu Sayyaf operates. President Duterte might actually see his order to “crush” the Abu Sayyaf carried out.