ZAMBOANGA CITY, 22 September 2003 — Security forces in the southern Philippines were in heightened alert yesterday in preparation for President Gloria Arroyo’s visit to the kidnap island of Jolo, officials said.
The president is to fly to Jolo in Sulu province today before proceeding to the town of Tungawan in the province of Zamboanga Sibugay in mainland Mindanao, where the hunt for escaped Indonesian terror-bomber Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi is going on.
“Our troops are in place and we have secured these areas and everything is okay for the president’s visit,” said Maj. Gen. Trifonio Salazar, commander of the army’s 1st Infantry Division.
Arroyo is expected to meet with troops and provincial government officials in Sibugay and Jolo.
Military chief of staff Gen. Narciso Abaya is to accompany the president in her entire trip, his spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said.
Arroyo’s scheduled visit to Zamboanga Sibugay has fueled speculations in Manila that Al-Ghozi has been captured by the military, but this was denied by security officials.
Salazar said security forces were still hunting down Al-Ghozi in the Zamboanga Peninsula, or Western Mindanao, where he is believed to be hiding.
“There is an ongoing operation and we cannot give out details of this operation,” he said without further elaborating.
Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamco, chief of the military’s southern command, said he expects Arroyo to give “special instructions to recapture Al-Ghozi” when she meets with ground troops.
General Abaya said in Manila that Al-Ghozi was believed to be in Tungawan town, a stronghold of the separatist rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The military has accused the MILF of coddling Al-Ghozi, who escaped from jail in Manila on July 14 along with two Abu Sayyaf rebels Abdulmuikin Edris and Omar Opik Lasal.
It tagged MILF leader Salip Aloy Alsree as Al-Ghozi’s protector, but this was strongly denied by the rebels.
Al-Ghozi was serving a jail term in the Philippines for illegal possession of explosives when he escaped.
