Filepic of an image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube showing a group believed to be Abu Sayyaf gunmen. - AFP/YouTube
“WHEN are we going to carpet bomb the Abu Sayyaf?” or “Why don’t the Philippine special forces wipe out the Abu Sayyaf?” are common reactions on Twitter or Facebook whenever there is a report of a kidnapping on the east coast of Sabah.
Early this year, a few months after Sarawakian Bernard Then was beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo island, I met a high-ranking Philippine military commander to ask him these questions.
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