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MANILA, Philippines – President-elect Rodrigo Duterte is considering implementing martial law in Sulu, Basilan and the entire Sulu Archipelago in an attempt to eliminate the Abu Sayyaf Group. The terrorist group has continually engaged in high-profile kidnappings throughout the southern regions of the Philippines – often abducting business owners and foreigners. Recently the group has begun decapitating its captives after ransom demands are not met. Duterte told reporters during his pre-election campaign that he would not hesitate to invade Sulu if the Abu Sayyaf Group does not surrender to his demands. ...

Note: The following text is a quote: Madhatta Haipe Extradited to U.S. for 1995 Hostage Taking Involving U.S. and Philippine Citizens WASHINGTON—The Justice Department today announced that Madhatta Haipe, a citizen of the Philippines, has been extradited from the Philippines to face trial in the District of Columbia for various crimes relating to the hostage taking of U.S. and Philippine citizens in 1995. Haipe was arrested Aug. 27 upon his arrival in the United States and is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in federal court in the District of Columbia to face a seven-count indictment filed on...

CAMP BAUTISTA, Philippines -- It was one of the largest payouts ever in the State Department's Rewards for Justice program: $10 million to a handful of brave Filipinos who had the fortitude to stand up to terror. On Thursday, four of them courageously appeared at the nearby district governor's office with U.S. Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney and Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, chief of staff of the Philippine Armed Forces, to collect their share of the reward. The brief public ceremony may well mark the beginning of the end for the notorious Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), a radical Islamic terror organization affiliated...

MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES - There are so many links between the Abu Sayyaf Group of the Philippines, which beheaded an American hostage a few months ago, and Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist network, that on paper they look like the route map for a Peshawar-based airline. The links run from that high, bleak border city in Pakistan to terrorist dens in Afghanistan and Yemen; to murders and bombings in the Philippines; to the first attack on the World Trade Center; to a foiled attempt to assassinate the pope during a 1995 visit to Manila. A captured Abu Sayyaf guerrilla, ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday named the Philippine and Indonesian branches of the International Islamic Relief Organization as fund-raisers for al Qaeda and other terror groups. It also designated one of the Saudi-based organization's high-ranking officials, Abd Al Hamid Sulaiman Al-Mujil, as a fund-raiser for al Qaeda. The action means that no American can have any dealings with the two branches of the organization or with Al-Mujil and that any assets they have in the United States will be frozen. "Al-Mujil has a long record of supporting Islamic militant groups, and he has maintained a cell...

Caught on tape discussing her reelection with an election official, and with her husband allegedly involved in a gambling scam, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is in political hot water and may not finish her term. Ten members of Arroyo’s Cabinet, including key members of her economic team, recently resigned from their posts, urging that Arroyo follow their lead and put an end to the economic and political turmoil plaguing the country. The opposition in the Philippine Congress has already filed a motion to impeach Arroyo, which will be debated when Congress reassembles at the end of July. Manila’s descent...