From ASG terrorist to college grad: A journey from violence to peace

LAMITAN, Basilan – For Abner (not his real name), his path towards a life of banditry with the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) was sparked by his desire to take vengeance on a school official who kicked him out of college.

“Gusto kong gumanti sa kanya (I wanted to take vengeance on him),” Abner said.

He said the college dean refused him re-enrollment after he figured in a fight with the school’s security guard.

“We don’t tolerate student like you,” Abner quoted the dean’s words like they had just been blurted out in front of him a minute ago.

Spurred on by this anger, he readily accepted an invitation from a former high school classmate to join the ASG, with the promise that the group will help him take vengeance on the college dean. But that was years ago. Abner has since realized that he had been an angry young man, full of fury and angst, because he grew up without his parents. His father died when he was in Grade 5, while his mother worked abroad.

Only his grandmother was there to take care of him, saying he never had the support system he needed while he grew up.

“Kaya naging pala-away ako. Kaya ako na-kickout ay dahil nakipagsuntukan ako sa guard ng school namin (That’s why I always got into fights. The reason why I was kicked out was because I got into a fisticuff with the school guard),” he said.

After getting kicked out of school, he went back to his hometown, Tipo-Tipo, where he finally joined the ASG where, he said, he “witnessed a war, with his friends as casualties.”

“(My friends) were ‘lost,’ too,” Abner said.

“Grabe ang recruitment nila, ginagamit nila ang jihad para ma-entice ang mga bata, katulad ko na kulang ang kaalaman about jihad, madali maconvince. Magkaiba ang jihad sa terrorism (Their recruitment was so intense, they used jihad to entice the young like me, who knew little about jihad. I was early convinced. Jihad is different from terrorism),” he added.

When his relatives learned that he had joined the bandit group, they tried to talk him out of it. But he was firm and maintained that he wanted to stay.

“Kapag sumali ka, hindi mo na kamaganak ang mga kamaganak mo (When you join, your relatives aren’t your relatives anymore),” he said. He was ready to forget the life he was leaving behind for the sake of vengeance.

But that was until he realized that it was time to go back to school.

“Tumatambay sa may sidewalk, nakita ko yung estudyante na dumadaan na nakauniform papunta ng school, narealize ko, nainis ako, bakit sila nakauniform, ako nandito. Dun ko narealize na gusto ko ulit magaral (I was whiling away my time at a sidewalk when I saw a student pass by, on his way to school. I realized, got piqued at myself, why they are in uniform, yet here I am. It was then that I realized that I wanted to return to school,” Abner shared.

That was when Abner’s uncle reached out to him, and told him that he was willing to send him to school. As for the ASG, he had to lie to them that he was going to study for the benefit of the group.

Until now his fear of being hunted down by his former comrades in the ASG still haunts him. His recruiter was killed in a war, but he says other members might recognize him.