Raps filed vs Abu Sayyaf for beheading of Sulu school principal

Police on Wednesday filed criminal charges against members of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group in connection with the abduction and beheading of school principal Gabriel Canizares. Director General Jesus Verzosa, Philippine National Police chief, said charges of kidnapping for ransom were filed before the Sulu prosecutor's office. Named respondents were Basarun Aruk, Edimar Isnain, and Abdulatip Jalmaani, among others. It was not clear why the police did not file murder charges instead. Canizares was reportedly abducted by fully armed Abu Sayyaf bandits on October 19 while on board a public transport bound for Sulu with his co-teachers. He was beheaded after negotiators allegedly refused to pay the P1 million ransom demand in exchange for his release. His severed head was recovered early Monday at a gasoline station in Jolo, the provincial capital. [See: Abductors behead school principal in Sulu] No less than Malacañang admitted on Tuesday that Canizares’ gruesome murder humiliated the government. [See: Palace 'embarrassed' by beheading of school principal in Sulu] Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. has appealed to the public to help the government combat kidnappings, which has become a lucrative business in southern Philippines despite efforts by the government to resolve the long-standing problem. [See: Abu Sayyaf behind latest Basilan abduction - AFP] Meanwhile, security for teachers in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has been tightened, according to PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina. The PNP directive was made after a group of teachers on Tuesday called on the government to provide more protection for their colleagues in Mindanao. [See: Teachers call for more protection vs. kidnappers in Mindanao] In an interview on dzXL radio, Espina said the PNP chief has ordered ARMM regional police forces under Chief Superintendent Paisal Umpa “to provide protection and security to our teachers there." Verzosa said operatives from the PNP’s Regional Mobile Group and Special Action Force in Sulu were realigned to go after Canizares' killers, even as Espina said "offensive operations and actions" are now ongoing against the bandits. – Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV