A senior Philippine official said the Abu Sayyaf Disputing a US State Department report that Mindanao remained a "terrorist haven" due to the presence of the Abu Sayyaf, Lacierda said, "The Abu Sayyaf is more or less a bandit group already. They have been reduced to a kidnap-for-ransom group and that's the status right now as we continue to pursue lawless elements in the country."
The same was true of the communist New People's Army (NPA) whose numbers have also been significantly reduced by military offensives as well as the government's success in encouraging the