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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Wife of ASG leader convicted as accessory to terrorist financing

Wife of ASG leader convicted as accessory to terrorist financing

Published May 16, 2025 04:41 pm
by the court for 13 counts as an accessory to terrorist financing, a violation under Republic Act No. 10168, the Terrorism Financing and Prevention Act of 2012.
In a statement, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said convicted by the Quezon City regional trial court (RTC) was Myrna Ajilul Mabanza, wife of ASG leader Ramji Asnaul, also known as Ramzie Ahaddin Asnaul.
A copy of the RTC decision was not immediately available.
The DOJ said “Mabanza was sentenced to a penalty of four (4) months and one (1) day as minimum to one (1) year, seven (7) months and ten (10) days as maximum for each of the thirteen counts, to be served successively.”
It also said she was also “ordered to pay a fine of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000) per offense, or a total of One Million Three Hundred Thousand Pesos (P1.3 Million), with subsidiary imprisonment in case of failure to pay.”
The DOJ said the RTC convicted Mabanza who entered into a plea bargaining agreement with the prosecution, with the approval of the court, so she could plead for a lesser offense for a lesser penalty.
It said that Mabanza was arrested on Feb. 15, 2024 by operatives of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and domestic intelligence units in Barangay Pasil in Indanan, Sulu.
She has been identified as “a major financial conduit for terrorist groups in Southeast Asia,” it also said.
“She had long operated behind the scenes, funneling funds and facilitating movements on behalf of ISIS-Philippines (ISIS-P) and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG),” it added.
Thus, the United States Department of Treasury in 2018 declared her as a specially designated global terrorist “for her involvement in transferring substantial sums -- including over $100,000 -- to then ISIS-P leader Isnilon Hapilon,” the DOJ disclosed.
“Mabanza also coordinated directly with ISIS elements in Syria and facilitated the travel of foreign extremists into the Philippines, including representatives of Indonesia-based Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), for the procurement of firearms and the establishment of training camps,” it added.
The DOJ said that Mabanza’s conviction “sends a clear and unequivocal message: those who aid, abet, or enable terrorism in any form—whether through arms, influence, or money—will be identified, prosecuted, and held fully accountable under the law.”
“Her conviction confirms the operational success of years of surveillance, financial monitoring, and inter-agency cooperation,” it added.
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