MANILA, Philippines—The Armed Forces of the Philippines rejoiced over the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, saying local Abu Sayyaf terrorists would be demoralized by the loss of their inspirational leader.
“The Armed Forces rejoices and the entire nation is happy that finally Bin Laden is dead. This is a major victory not only for the Armed Forces of the Philippines but for all armed forces who are joined together to fight terror,” AFP spokesman Commodore Miguel Rodriguez said in Filipino in a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo shortly after US President Barack Obama announced Bin Laden’s death Monday.
Rodriguez said the death of Bin Laden represents the loss of inspiration rather than of financial support for local Islamic extremists undertaking terrorist activists.
“Basically this is inspirational (support). (He) gives them inspiration that so long as he is alive, the terrorist movement is not defeated. But the financial support from Al-Qaeda to the Jemaah Islamiyah has trickled down to almost zero that’s why they have no motivation because they have no funds,” he said.
“Now that he’s gone, they would be easier to defeat,” Rodriguez added.
The AFP however saw no need to raise its alert level in case of any reprisal attacks from Bin Laden’s local sympathizers.
“It’s always possible but we’re always prepared for that. They won’t succeed because we are ready,” Rodriguez said.