Metro Manila free from Jemaah Islamiyah—AFP

MANILA, Philippines—The military assured on Thursday that Metro Manila is free from Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bandits despite reported threats they were sighted in Sulu.

“We can assure that Metro Manila is cleared of any JI and we have intensified our monitoring, intelligence monitoring and we are continuously validating information on the presence of JIs in Southern Philippines,” Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr, Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs chief told reporters.

In a recently-concluded two-day intelligence exchange among military analysts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Professor Rohan Gunarathna, head of the management staff of the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, said the JI had been working on plans of terror attacks with the Abu Sayyaf.

He was also reported to have said there were 12 monitored JIs in Sulu.

Meanwhile, Burgos said they have been “continuously monitoring and validating reports” only four personalities roaming and coming in and out of the country through the “porous” borders of the Philippines with Malaysia and Indonesia.”

The presence of the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines has been down to 379 for the first semester of this year from its all-time high in 2000, he added.

Burgos attributed it to the “intelligence-driven combat operations” military operations that neutralized the 46 of ASG leaders and sub-leaders since 2000, with rewards placed on their heads ranging from P1 million to P10 million.

Leading the list of wanted leaders neutralized by the Armed Forces was Khadaffy Janjaani, also known as Jimar Manatad Abubakar, with a P10 million bounty on his head.