GOVERNMENT troops rescued in Basilan the 15-year-old son of an Indonesian couple involved in a suicide bombing at a cathedral in Jolo, Sulu in January 2019 that killed 21 people dead, including the couple.
The rescue came nearly two years after the boy’s younger sister was also rescued during a military operation in Patikul, Sulu.
The military’s Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) said the boy was found abandoned at the lair of Abu Sayyaf members in Sitio Lobloban, Barangay Guiong in Sumisip, Basilan last Saturday.
The terrorists, led by sub-leaders Mudzrimar Sawadjaan, alias Mundi; and Pasil Bayali, alias Kera, were able to escape and are the subject of pursuit operation.
“They two (Abu Sayyaf) leaders were there. During the combat operation, they escaped (along with their men), leaving behind the boy,” said Westmincom spokesman Maj. Andrew Linao.
Linao said the boy was brought to a hospital for medical check-up. After the procedure, Linao said the boy will stay with the military for “custodial debriefing.”
They boy is the son of Indonesian couple Rullie Rian Zeke and Ulfa Handayani Saleh, who blew themselves up during a suicide bombing of the Mt. Carmel Cathedral in Jolo on January 27, 2019. The attack left 21 people dead, including the couple, and over a hundred others injured.
The attack was allegedly masterminded by Sawadjaan, who the military said recently fled to Basilan to evade relentless military operations in Sulu.
On June 23, 2021, government troops rescued the boy’s younger sister after a firefight with Abu Sayyaf members in Patikul, Sulu. The military said the girl was being groomed to be a suicide bomber.
Their sister, Rezky Fantasya Rullie, who the military described as a “would-be suicide bomber,” was arrested in October 2020 in Jolo, Sulu. Also arrested in the operation were the two wives of Abu Sayaff men.
Asked if the rescued boy was being indoctrinated by the Abu Sayyaf to be a suicide bomber, Linao said: “That’s possible because his parents were suspects in the Jolo bombing. We are going to determine that in the custodial debriefing.”
Westmincom commander Lt. Gen. Roy Galido commended the troops from the 5th Scout Ranger Battalion, under the 1103rd Brigade, for successfully rescuing the boy.
“He is still young, and we are hopeful that with proper guidance and counseling, he will be able to walk back on the right path and build a better future,” said Galido.
