AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang (right) said Thursday the P250-million ransom which the Abu Sayyaf claimed to have received in exchange for release of the two German hostages last month could be counterfeit money. AFP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang said Thursday the P250-million ransom which the Abu Sayyaf claimed to have received in exchange for release of the two German hostages last month could be counterfeit money.
Catapang, who is in Brunei attending the annual defense chiefs’ conference, said in a radio interview in the tiny Southeast Asian country that he had ordered an investigation of the ransom claim and the bundles of money shown by the bandit group in a video clip posted on Facebook.
In the video, self-proclaimed Abu Sayyaf spokesman Muammar Askali, alias Abu Rami, showed bundles of P1,000 bills which he claimed totaled P250 million.
Askali claimed the cash was the ransom paid to them in exchange for the release of Germans Stefan Viktor Okonek, 71, and Henrike Dielen, 55, last Oct. 17.
“Perhaps they’re showing it to confuse the people that money was indeed paid but we believe that is not true. Perhaps the money being shown was counterfeit or fake,” Catapang said.
The AFP chief assured the people that the military was exerting all efforts to contain the Abu Sayyaf problem in Mindanao.
“It will be a whole of nation or whole of government approach to address all the loopholes, if ever that (report of ransom paid) is true,” he added.
Catapang said the AFP would continue to put pressure on the Abu Sayyaf to release the remaining hostages and to capture the terrorists’ lairs.
At 11 p.m. on Tuesday, the Abu Sayyaf released another hostage, Li Pei-shei, in Alicia town, Zamboanga Sibugay.
Li was abducted on Sept. 11 in Zamboanga Sibugay and moved to Basilan by the bandit group.
Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, AFP Public Affairs Office chief, said there were no reports of ransom paid in exchange for Li’s release.
On President Aquino’s order to decimate the Abu Sayyaf, Catapang said the military has a short-term approach, which is to continue exerting military pressure to keep terrorists on the run and disorganized, and a long term approach, which is to address the peace and economic concerns of the communities in Western Mindanao.
Cabunoc said it would be a concern for the military if Askali’s claims of ransom payment were indeed true.
“We are also concerned with this, if ever ransom was really paid they (Abu Sayyaf group) could use that in acquiring firearms,” Cabunoc said.
But he agreed with his boss on the possibility that the cash shown by Askali could be fake.
“That is one possibility, that they were paid with fake money because P250 million is a huge amount,” he said.
The video clip that ran for two minutes and 57 seconds also showed the terrorists gloating over the money bag with a black flag of the Islamic State in the background.