Is the Philippines’ Sulu province reborn after years of Abu Sayyaf horrors?
Sulu was battered by years of clashes between the militants and Philippine troops, but visitors are slowly returning due to better security
Deep in the islands of Sulu province in the southern Philippines, people used to rush home as soon as the sun set, fearing that militants from the Abu Sayyaf group might launch attacks against government security forces, potentially trapping civilians in the crossfire.
Mumarzhen Suhuri, a resident of Patikul – a town once controlled by the Abu Sayyaf – recalled the violence that destroyed the island’s reputation.
“If I’m still in downtown Jolo by six in the evening, I prefer to spend the night there because it’s too dangerous to travel back home to Patikul,” he said while riding a utility vehicle.
Jolo, the capital of Sulu, is less than 30 minutes away by car from Patikul.
“The communities we passed along the way were a no-man’s-land before. Where authorities usually discovered severed heads of a person, remains of victims, and areas where clashes between soldiers and militants took place,” said Suhuri, a town councillor.
Government security forces travelling on the island often had to deploy several military vehicle convoys.
