AFP chief orders: Locate remains of boat captain beheaded by ASG

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Eduardo Año. PHOTO FROM AFP

Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief Gen. Eduardo Año on Monday ordered the Joint Task Force Sulu (JTFS) in Western Mindanao to locate the remains of Filipino kidnap-for-ransom victim Noel Besconde who was beheaded last week by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Sulu.

Año got angry when told of Besconde’s beheading by the ASG led by sub leader Sadjawaan on April 13 in Barangay Tugas in Patikul town.

He ordered Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, JTFS commander, to bring Besconde’s remains to the family of the slain victim so that it could be accorded a decent burial.

Besconde was one of four crew members of FB Ramona, all abducted somewhere in Celebes Sea in December last year.

Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, JSTF commander, said he believed Besconde was killed because he was ill and that his condition would impede the withdrawal of terrorists who were being pursued by troops.

“While the AFP condemns this gruesome murder of this hapless kidnap victim, it all the more drives our soldiers, airmen, sailors, and Marines to deliver the lethal blow against this band of terrorists and rescue the remaining kidnap victims,” Año said.

He said the ASG’s recent terrorist act further fueled the AFP’s desire to stop ASG’s kidnap-for-ransom activities, put an end to terrorism and restore peace in Western Mindanao.

“We will never falter. We will not rest even a bit in our conduct of combat, intelligence, and civil-military operations to protect our people. We will exhaust all means-legal and moral–to bring this war against terrorists to conclusion,” the AFP chief further said.

Año called on residents of Sulu, Basilan, and other parts of Western Mindanao that are infested with terrorists to help the military and other security forces in putting an end to this criminal acts of the ASG.

“They have no place in our civilized society,” Año said. JE