Captor of Ces Drilon, 16 others surrender to the military
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines — Seventeen members of the Abu Sayyaf Group, including the captor of broadcast journalist Ces Oreña-Drilon and her team in 2008, surrendered to the military barely two months into the new year, according to Maj. General William Gonzales, commander of the Joint Task Force-Sulu (JTF-Sulu).
Among those who surrendered was Ibrahim Asara, a 52-year-old ASG subleader behind the kidnapping for ransom of ABS-CBN reporter and news anchor Drilon — along with team members Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama — and Octavio Dinampo, a professor at the Mindanao State University (MSU).
The kidnapping took place on June 10, 2008, in Maimbung town in Sulu.
Aside from Asara, the family members of a former high-value target also yielded to the military this month.
Gonzales was referring to the late ASG subleader Talha Jumsah, also known as Abu Talha, whose father Jumsah Sari and brother Aizal Jumsah surrendered to the military.
Gonzales said Sari and Jumsah admitted their involvement in several encounters with government forces since 2003. They also admitted having participated in kidnapping a Norwegian national, two Canadians, and a Filipina in 2015 on Samal Island in Davao del Norte.
According to Gonzales, Talha was a bomb expert trained by Islamic State militants. He also served as the ISIS liaison officer with the Abu Sayyaf and as an instructor in making improvised explosive devices for suicide bombing. He was killed on Nov. 23, 2019, in the jungles of Patikul.
Sari and his son, both residents of Barangay Pansul in Patikul, handed over their M1 Garand rifles.
Gonzales said they never expected quite a number of local terrorists to come out.
“This was beyond imagination,” he said. “Not so long ago, people were saying that Sulu-based ASG would rather die than surrender.”
He explained, though, that the surrender to JTF-Sulu would not mean defeat but a chance to live a new life.
A total of 17 bandits have surrendered since January this year.
In 2020, 184 Abu Sayyaf members and supporters surrendered to the military. Another 248 surrendered last year, bringing to 449 the total number of surrenderers.
READ: Ex-Abu Sayyaf bandits drop guns for farm tools
