Malacanang urges Sulu people to help gov’t annihilate Abu Sayyaf

ABU SAYYAF GROUP (Photo courtesy of the Institute for the Study of Violent Groups)

MANILA – The Palace has urged the people of Sulu to cooperate with the government in ending the atrocities of Abu Sayyaf group following the killing of an Abu Sayyaf leader in a firefight in Sulu last Saturday.

”We are seeking the cooperation of our countrymen to end the existence of crimes in their province,” Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a Radyo ng Bayan interview on Sunday.

Coloma said the killing of Abu Sayyaf leader Sihata Muallo Asmad, also known as Sihata Latip was reportedly killed in a brief firefight where a soldier was also killed last Saturday.

”This (killing of Abu Sayyaf leader) proved the determination of the military to stop the crimes being perpetrated by bandits like Abu Sayyaf group in the province of Sulu,” Coloma said.

He said the law enforcers of the government continue to coordinate with the local government particularly in Mindanao to arrest the criminals.

Recently, two Germans were freed from the hands of the Abu Sayyaf.