In 2000, under then President Joseph Estrada’s orders, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Angelo Reyes launched a two-month campaign against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). In July of that year, Philippine Marines overran its main camp and headquarters, Abubakr al Siddique, in Maguindanao.

The camp was also where Hashim Salamat had lived for already a decade. With his camp in ruins and the Marines in hot pursuit of him, Salamat, then 68 years old, had to be constantly on the run. That took a toll on his health. He became sickly. In July 2003, the MILF’s legendary political, military, and religious leader died of a heart attack. The MILF’s boast that it had an army of 120,000 guerillas with impregnable camps proved to be an empty one.

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