The alleged Abu Sayyaf bandit arrested in Quezon City, was an anchorman, until early this year, in a radio station run by the military. Walter Ancheta Villanueva, who was arrested by the police Wednesday in a Quezon City mall, was the anchorman of radio program Light of Peace aired over radio station dwDD. The program, military officials said, was aimed at bridging the gap between Christians and Muslims.
| Guess which side of the gap he was on. |
Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus, commander of the Armed Forces Civil Relations Service, which oversees the operation of the radio station said Villanueva was indeed a âblock timerâ at the radio station.
| "block timer" - scheduler? Damm broadcasters, can't trust any of them :) |
Corpus said the military and the police are still verifying if Villanueva, a Muslim convert, is indeed a member of the Abu Sayyaf.
âWe are still verifying if Villanueva is an Abu Sayyaf member. If that is confirmed, then I must bear some responsibility for his having been allowed to work in the radio station,â Corpus told Today. While Corpus said he is willing to be held responsible, Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, chief of the Armed Forces public information office, was quick to brush aside observations that there was negligence on the part of the military in recruiting anchor men for the radio station.
| It's not like it was a sensitive position that required a deep backround check. |
Villanuevaâs radio program was reportedly scrapped in January. In a separate interview, Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, National Police spokesman, said that as far as the police is concerned, it is âpositiveâ that Villanueva is an Abu Sayyaf bandit. However, Goltiao said this has to be confirmed with the National Police Intelligence Group. The police claimed to have confiscated from Villanueva 10 kilos of trinitrotoluene (TNT), wires connected to a dry cell battery and cellular telephone and a 9mm pistol when he was arrested Wednesday.
| That seems to be pretty good confirmation right there. |
According to authorities, Villanueva was planning to carry out bombings in Metro Manila.
Relatedly, the militaryâs Southern Command announced the arrest of four alleged Abu Sayyaf bandits implicated in the kidnapping of 54 students and teachers and a priest in Sumisip, Basilan, four years ago. Arrested were Nasir Hapilon, older brother of Abu Sayyaf commander Isnilon Hapilon, who was included on the list of the five most wanted Philippine terrorists by the US; Hamil Abdulbasar alias Kasir Ibrahim, 31; Jumadil Abdulhan, 25 and Julpikar Abdulbasar, 24.
Authorities said the four were arrested by a combined team from the Marines, naval intelligence and Military Intelligence Group 9 in their safe house at Rio Hondo Aplaya in Zamboanga City before noon Thursday. Authorities said the bandits were collared after an informant tipped off the police that the four were waiting for a vessel bound for Malaysia.
The military said that based on initial interrogation, Hamid admitted that he was a student of slain Abu Sayyaf leader Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani.
| "Ouch, yes, he was my teacher! Now put that down!" |
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita, concurrent coordinator of the Antiterrorism Task Force, said Abu Sayyaf bandits have been training Muslim converts to carry out terror attacks in Metro Manila. Ermita said six bandits captured this week for plotting âMadrid-levelâ bomb attacks in Manila had confessed that they were recruiting Muslim converts because they would not stand out and arouse suspicion.
| Err, just how do you tell a Philippine born Muslim from a Philippine born Catholic by looking at them? |
The wife of one of the six suspected Abu Sayyaf members had said they were Muslim converts, but denied they were involved in terrorism. She accused security forces of torturing her husband into confessing an allegation quickly denied by Ermita. Islamic community leaders on Friday denounced a wave of arrests of suspected terrorists, accusing the Philippine government of using minority Muslims as âsacrificial lambs.â Relatives of at least two men -- including Redendo Cain Dellosa, who allegedly admitted to a February ferry bombing that claimed more than 100 lives -- said the men had been abducted, framed and tortured.
| Yeah, yeah, I know, religion of peace, we was framed, lies, lies. |
Remedios Fatima Balbin, a lawyer for Dellosa, said he cried when she saw him for the first time on Friday, more than a week after he was taken into custody. He claimed he signed a confession to stop being tortured, she said. Police have denied the allegations. âWe are now calling on our brother Muslims. . .to unite and condemn these arrests,â said Abdulbasit Marangit, an Islamic preacher in Manilaâs Quiapo district, one of the largest Muslim communities outside the traditional Islamic homeland in the southern Philippines. Community leader Charlie de Makota read a statement from the Alliance of United Muslims Against Human Rights Violations and Terrorism, saying the governmentâs antiterror campaign has caused fear among innocent Muslims. He said Muslim communities wonât protest whenever the government arrests genuine terrorists.
| "Like the IRA, or the Eskimo Liberation Front! Or anyone who ain't islamic, they're all terrorists, but no muslims, see?" |
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., meanwhile, challenged law-enforcement authorities to present to the media the six suspected Abu Sayyaf terrorists they have arrested to enable the public to determine the truth behind allegations they were out to bomb shopping malls and trains in Metro Manila. |