ZAMBOANGA CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 18 Apr) The Abu Sayyaf on Tuesday have threatened to kill a popular radio broadcaster in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines after accusing him of continuously criticizing the terror group linked to the spate of bombings and murders in the troubled region.
"If Mr. Vic Alvarez will not stop his recorded tape, saying...good morning Abu Sayyaf, our serious threat to his still goes on until the right time. We can have a good timing to kill him just downstairs of your radio station."
"It will become a headline, ASG assassinate the hard-hitting anchorman of RGMA," warned Abu Omar, a self-confessed spokesman of the Abu Sayyaf group, in a cell phone text message sent to the morning public service program of the radio network owned by the television giant GMA-7.
Alvarez's daily public affairs program, "Good Morning Zamboanga," often starts with the journalist greeting criminals, drug syndicates, thieves and corrupt government officials, including the Abu Sayyaf, but the terror group resented this.
"I am not discounting this threat to my life," Alvarez told the Zamboanga Journal.
Last year, the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFJ) reported that Omar also threatened to kill Alvarez and other local journalists and government officials critical of the Abu Sayyaf group.
In a letter sent in November to local radio stations, the Abu Sayyaf said it dispatched liquidation squads to carry out the killings. Omar's letter was the seventh mailed to RGMA and other local media outlets, according to CMFJ.
It said Omar, the source of the letter, said they were conducting surveillance on their targets. Alvarez topped the hit list.
The Abu Sayyaf previously admitted killing a local broadcaster Rey Bancayrin, of the radio station dxLL, in March 1998. Two gunmen entered the studio and shot the outspoken commentator three times before escaping. It was thought that Bancayrin was murdered because of his reporting on local government corruption and drug trafficking.
Last month, Omar also sent a text message to RGMA warning of more bomb attacks in Zamboanga City and Basilan island. The warning came just two days after an Abu Sayyaf bomb exploded March 27 inside a two-storey convenience store in Jolo island, killing 9 people.
"The next bombings will be in Zamboanga City and Basilan," said Omar.
"If Mr. Vic Alvarez will not stop his recorded tape, saying...good morning Abu Sayyaf, our serious threat to his still goes on until the right time. We can have a good timing to kill him just downstairs of your radio station."
"It will become a headline, ASG assassinate the hard-hitting anchorman of RGMA," warned Abu Omar, a self-confessed spokesman of the Abu Sayyaf group, in a cell phone text message sent to the morning public service program of the radio network owned by the television giant GMA-7.
Alvarez's daily public affairs program, "Good Morning Zamboanga," often starts with the journalist greeting criminals, drug syndicates, thieves and corrupt government officials, including the Abu Sayyaf, but the terror group resented this.
"I am not discounting this threat to my life," Alvarez told the Zamboanga Journal.
Last year, the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFJ) reported that Omar also threatened to kill Alvarez and other local journalists and government officials critical of the Abu Sayyaf group.
In a letter sent in November to local radio stations, the Abu Sayyaf said it dispatched liquidation squads to carry out the killings. Omar's letter was the seventh mailed to RGMA and other local media outlets, according to CMFJ.
It said Omar, the source of the letter, said they were conducting surveillance on their targets. Alvarez topped the hit list.
The Abu Sayyaf previously admitted killing a local broadcaster Rey Bancayrin, of the radio station dxLL, in March 1998. Two gunmen entered the studio and shot the outspoken commentator three times before escaping. It was thought that Bancayrin was murdered because of his reporting on local government corruption and drug trafficking.
Last month, Omar also sent a text message to RGMA warning of more bomb attacks in Zamboanga City and Basilan island. The warning came just two days after an Abu Sayyaf bomb exploded March 27 inside a two-storey convenience store in Jolo island, killing 9 people.
"The next bombings will be in Zamboanga City and Basilan," said Omar.
The Abu Sayyaf is on a US list of terrorist organizations and Washington has offered as much as $10 million bounty for the capture of the group's chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and other known leaders.
5 comments:
If killing and murdering are solutions to Abu Sayaf, think what kind of government that it will use. Abu Sayaf remains a threat to the public. And, it must be taken out. If filipinos remain defensive, they will just kill more people. Don't wait. Enforce the law of humanity.
Just guns and arms do not win. Where is the funding comming from? Where are they getting the weapons to kill? Why are there guns in the streets? Why there are no regulations on the stuff to make bombs? There is got to be smart, logical, or intelligent way to handle them. If you create an environment that is harder to do crimes, they can't do much damage.
Dear Reader,
I agree! But the culture of violence in the Philippines seems without no cure. A news report in Cebu province on Tuesday tagged a policeman in the alleged killing of a top city official involved in Bantay-Dagat operation and if people who are supposed to protect us are involved or perpetrators of crimes, what now?
Journalists are only messenger, the bringer of news. If this culture continues, I don't know what will happen to this country, the future of the children depends entirely on what is happening today.
And for the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, I say a tooth for a tooth and eye for an eye!
Ed.Zamboanga Journal
ASG is nothing but the scum of the earth. They have no ideals, their main motive is money. ASG should never be offered any news linking them to Islam. The press should not give them the light of day.
There is continue momemntum of aid in the region from the US in both humanitarian and military. I hope this will continue to grow in the hope that these scumbags will be ridden once and for all!
Of course, it is so easy for an outsider to voice his opinion, over the web nonetheless.
I really feel bad for the people living down there (and the journalist that get caught in between) under constant fear and guard. I hope things improve in the near future.
We all know how bad Abu Sayaf. They are dangerous and agitated people. Let's not fuel for more agitation. And, report an unbiased report. Send the message without sensationalism and emotion.
Fighting fire with fire leads to never ending battle. It is never eye for an eye. Abu Sayaf tries to outdo the other. ASG is known to comeback more than 100%.
Just take out the funds and weapons. To take out ASG, it must be done swiftly and completely. Or, they will arm and recuperate.
Whether the army/police, or Abu Sayaf, justice should come to them whoever commits crime.
Dear anonymous reader,
Thank you for your comment, we respect your view.
Our editorial remain.
Ed.Zamboanga Journal
Post a Comment