By Perseus Echeminada
MANILA, Philippines - The Abu Sayyaf may have intended to embarrass the Duterte government before the international community when its members attempted to set up base in Bohol recently, a ranking leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) said yesterday.
MNLF spokesman Emmanuel Fontanilla cited the bandit group’s timing as the country got set to host the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.
“The Abu Sayyaf would be hitting two birds with one stone, taking hostages for ransom and at the same time embarrassing President Duterte before the international community,” Fontanilla told The STAR.
He said the pattern of the aborted Bohol intrusion was a typical “special operation” that the bandits employ when they seized hostages in the Island Garden City of Samal, Palawan, Zamboanga and even in Sipadan, Malaysia.
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