PUERTO PRINCESA -- Seven Abu Sayyaf suspects detained at the Palawan jail had been transferred to Muntinlupa after the Supreme Court upheld a local court's decision favoring the move, citing potential security threats that could arise from the suspects' continued presence in the province, the prosecutor said Wednesday.

Palawan Governor Joel Reyes had requested the Western Command here to facilitate the suspects' transfer from Palawan to Manila via a C-130 plane on Tuesday afternoon, Provincial prosecutor Allen Ross Rodriguez told the Philippine Daily Inquirer Wednesday.

Rodriguez said the Supreme Court granted the petition last January 23.

Regional Trial Court Judge Chito Meregillano endorsed the petition for transfer on Dec. 6, 2007.

The suspects, who were arrested in a series of military operations in Southern Palawan last September, had been charged with murdering a former companion, also reportedly a member of the ASG.

"We have requested for a change of venue for the trial because of local security implications," Rodriguez said.

The suspects have been identified as: Abu Daizer, alias Daizer Yusof; Jemar Alfa, alias Abu Jaafar/Jemaar; Moadz Jala, alias Abu Moadz; Abdulla Abduraham, alias Abdullah; Omar Ibnu Jakarain alias Abu Mogera; and Najer Daud, alias Ben Saif Daud, and Yusop Hapipudin alias Abu Islam.