MANILA: The Philippines is stepping up a legal offensive against two militant groups in the country, drawing up a terror blacklist similar to those in the United States and Europe, an official said yesterday.
The Abu Sayyaf and the Rajah Solaiman Movement, jointly blamed for the country’s worst militant attack — the bombing of a ferry near Manila Bay in 2004 that killed more than 100 people — are considered among the biggest security threats in the country.
Ricardo Blancaflor, executive director of the government’s anti-terrorism council, said his agency had started drawing up a terror blacklist that will be sent to courts for approval, criminalizing membership to Abu Sayyaf and Rajah Solaiman.
“Once outlawed, it would be easier for the government to run after members of the Abu Sayyaf and Rajah Solaiman,” he said at an anti-terrorism seminar.
“It would also be much easier for us to search, freeze and seize bank accounts and assets used for plotting bomb attacks as well as make it difficult for them to hide proceeds from kidnap-for-ransom activities.”
Meanwhile, at least 10 secessionist rebels were killed in a clash with government troops in the southern Philippines, a regional army spokesman said yesterday.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce said 22 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels and two soldiers were also wounded in the fighting late on Sunday in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao province, 960 km south of Manila.
Ponce said hundreds of residents in the area have fled their homes for fear of being caught in the crossfire.
Hostilities between the MILF and the military in Maguindanao flared earlier in the month when government troops launched an offensive against rebel camps in the province. The military claimed killing nearly 100 rebels in the clashes.
In another incident, security forces captured a commander of the MILF accused of helping lead a deadly rampage last year in Christian communities in the southern Philippines, officials said yesterday. Soldiers and police shot Jayon Saligan in the leg when he tried to flee as they were serving a warrant for his arrest on Saturday in southern General Santos city, National police Director General Jesus Versoza said.
Rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu said Saligan did not resist arrest and condemned the arresting officers for shooting him.
“The government wants peace talks and it treats our commanders this way. This is double talk,” he said.
Deadly clashes have erupted sporadically between government troops and the 11,500-strong rebel front since August, when the Supreme Court blocked the signing of a Muslim autonomy deal that both sides negotiated for eight years.
