A total of 84 soldiers who were deployed in Bohol to help fight off the band of Abu Sayyaf men that entered the province last month were flown back to their base in Negros Occidental on Wednesday.
The Army troops were honored in a sendoff ceremony led by Gov. Edgar Chatto at the Tagbilaran City Airport this morning.
Soldiers from the Charlie Company of the 303rd Brigade were picked up by a C-130 plane and were transported back to their base in Murcia, Negros Occidental.
In his message to the troops, Brig. Gen. Arnulfo Matanguihan said that the remaining Abu Sayyaf bandits in Bohol no longer pose security threat to the province.
The primary goal of the bandits who have weakened due to fatigue, hunger and injuries is to escape the province alive, he said.
However, intensified manhunt operations against the remnants of the group of militants which entered Bohol through Inabanga last month will be sustained.
The Army official noted that the military continued to receive information from residents on the possible locations of the remaining bandits.
Two Abu Sayaff fighters were reportedly last spotted in Barangay Candungao in San Isidro town on Monday. (Allen Doydora)