Security adviser: Abu Sayyaf to 'disintegrate' after bin Laden's death

(Updated 5:18 p.m.) The al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group would "disintegrate" now that the international terrorist kingpin Osama bin Laden is dead, National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia said Wednesday. At a press briefing in Malacañang, Garcia said the Abu Sayyaf, which is allegedly receiving money from al-Qaeda, has lost its "leadership, people, and logistics" to carry out terrorist attacks. He said a large number of Abu Sayyaf members in southern Philippines have already "lost their ideological beliefs." According to Garcia, the Philippine government's security cluster raised the threat level to "high" in the Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9), Davao Region (Region 11), the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and Region 12 or SOCCSKSARGEN – an acronym from the region's four provinces and one of its cities: South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City. Some rebel groups in the Philippines have the "capability to undertake terrorist activities," he said. In the National Capital Region, he said, the threat level has been placed to "moderate." This means that terror groups have the intention to create violence in Metro Manila, but they do not have the "capability." But a possible attack is "something that we cannot discount," he said, adding that the enhanced threat level in some parts of the Philippines prodded government authorities to increase the visibility of uniformed men. Last Tuesday, President Benigno Aquino III ordered various government agencies to assess the potential threat to the Philippines of the killing of bin Laden. The President came out with a memorandum directing the National Security Council, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and the Defense, Local Government and Justice departments to look into possible consequences of bin Laden's death. Aquino was not present during the security cluster's first meeting on Wednesday. Asked on the President's absence in the meeting, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a text message: "The President was never part of the meeting." Lacierda said only the mentioned government agencies will convene to assess the possible threat to the country of bin Laden's death. Security measures Garcia said, "There is a need to upgrade security measures in various infrastructure. We have to guard embassies, hotels, points of convergence, malls, churches, and the like." "There is a need to upgrade security measures in various infrastructure. We have to guard embassies, hotels, points of convergence, malls, churches, and the like," he said. He cited that security measures in embassies based in the Philippines have been tightened because the political tensions in Libya and other Middle Eastern countries have intensified. Asked how long the government will keep the enhanced security measures, Garcia said, "For as long as it is necessary." He said there is an ongoing assessment on the impact of bin Laden's death – whether al-Qaeda can hold on to its ideologies and whether the second man in the terrorists' network can maintain its force. Garcia cited that Jemaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaeda-linked group based in Indonesia, still has presence in the Philippines. "There is an estimated 20 to 30 Jemaah Islamiyah members in Mindanao... Some of them married some local girls." The government, he said, will continue to tighten its "points of entry" especially that some foreign militants are using "the backdoor" to keep the Philippines as one of its training grounds. Last Tuesday, President Benigno Aquino directed the National Security Agency (NSA), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff, director general of the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation director, Interior secretary and the Justice secretary to convene and assess the threat that might arise out of the death of bin Laden. According to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., they [officials] are preparing their various briefs for the meeting at 9 a.m. on Thursday. — LBG/KBK, GMA News