Philippine National Police (PNP) Director Gen. Ronald dela Rosa in his Bohol visit on Wednesday said that the Abu Sayyaf men who survived the Inabanga clash last week are still in the province and are struggling to escape from security forces.

According to dela Rosa, the bandits have not fled from Inabanga and the P1 million bounty placed by Pres. Duterte on each of their heads would make it difficult for them to escape the province.

The PNP chief at the wake of one of the encounter’s casualties, Calape resident PO2 Rey Anthony Nazareno, echoed Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s pronouncement that the Abu Sayyaf bandits’ days in Bohol “are numbered.”

For his part, Gov. Edgar Chatto during the “Kita ug ang Gobernador” program on Friday morning said that the remaining militants are likely hiding in the hinterlands of Inabanga.

He said that intensified manhunt operations have been sustained a week after the deadly encounter in the town.

Yesterday, additional security forces arrived in Bohol to help flush out the remaining band of Abu Sayyaf men.

Meanwhile, dela Rosa also allayed fears that Abu Sayyaf Group has also infiltrated other areas in the region including Cebu following the clash in Inabanga.

The incident in Bohol where around 12 militants engaged security forces in an almost daylong firefight was an isolated case, said dela Rosa. (Allen Doydora)