ZAMBOANGA CITY – Marines swooped down on an island off the southern Philippine province of Tawi-Tawi near the Sabah border on Friday and recovered an arms cache and also rescued 10 people who were victims of human trafficking, a military spokesman said.
Captain Roy Trinidad, of the anti-terror Joint Task Group Tawi-Tawi, said the operations involved Fleet Marine units of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao, and is part of the ongoing “Operation Pagbabaybay” targeting kidnap for ransom gangs.
Trinidad said troops also detained a man linked to human trafficking. “The victims of human trafficking were all from Pagadian City,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He said the operations led troops to the island called Siluwag where security forces seized two machine guns, 5 automatic rifles, two hand guns and grenade launchers. “This is part of the ongoing Operation Pagbabaybay by Joint Task Group Tawi-Tawi targeting kidnap for ransom gang personalities operating in the area,” Trinidad said.
The military operations coincided with Malaysian proposals for a joint maritime patrols and aerial surveillance with the Philippines and Indonesia in the Sulu Sea at the border of Sabah.
Defense Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein earlier said that Malaysia would tackle the piracy and kidnapping problems in the Sulu Sea with his Filipino counterpart Voltaire Gazmin and Ryamizard Ryacudu, of Indonesia.
The Philippines signed border patrol agreements with both Malaysia and Indonesia in the 1990s. The country – through the Western Mindanao Command and Eastern Mindanao Command – regularly holds separate naval war games every year with Malaysia and Indonesia.
But despite this, Abu Sayyaf rebels have kidnapped Malaysian and Indonesian nationals in Sabah and in the waters of Tawi-Tawi. And since 2000, the Abu Sayyaf intruded into Sabah and kidnapped dozen 21 mostly European hostages in the posh Sipadan resort and ransomed off the victims to Malaysia and Libya.
On March 26, Abu Sayyaf rebels kidnapped 10 Indonesian crew of the tugboat Brahma 12 off Tawi-Tawi and then four more Malaysian crew men of the tugboat MasFive 6 were kidnapped in Sabah’s Semporna district. And recently, four Indonesian crew of tugboat Henry were also kidnapped off Tawi-Tawi near the border.
The Abu Sayyaf has beheaded a Canadian hostage John Ridsdel on April 25 after his family and government failed to pay P300 million ransom. The jihadist group is still holding Dutchman Ewold Horn, who was kidnapped in Tawi-Tawi; Canadian Robert Hall, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad – who were all seized from the posh resort of Samal Island in Davao del Norte province; and Japanese treasure hunter Toshio Ito also known as Katayama Mamaito. (With a report from Ely Dumaboc)
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