Chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Año directed ground troops to continue the rescue mission for the 23 hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu.
Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, AFP spokesman, said their new commander has not made any new policy yet except to maintain the focus on military operations to rescue Abu Sayyaf captives.
“Our continued guidance about the hostages captive by the Abu Sayyaf group is to continue the operation with the primary consideration of the safety of the hostages,” Padilla said.
He said the aim of their operation is always to secure the freedom of the hostages from the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu.
Padilla said that Año did not impose any timeframe on the troops.
He said the time fame set by the previous chief of staff Gen. Ricardo Visaya was a self-imposed deadline because of his scheduled retirement.
Visaya retired last week and was replaced by Año.
“Dahil po sa kanyang retirement so he was urging the troops to strive hard to meet that deadline knowing that he would be retiring on a specific date in December last week,” Padilla said.
He said Año has not changed drastically the policies imposed by the previous chief of staff and will continue with the refinements and some guidance in the operation in Sulu and Lanao areas.
Padilla said the operations against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu and the Maute in Lanao are considered a priority of the AFP.
