COMBAT operation against members of the al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) will not be affected by the military’s security preparations for the May 9 elections, according to a military spokesman.

“We will not give them [ASG terrorists] any reason or chance to score points or escape, our troops will not stop in running after them,” the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman on Monday said during a joint police and military news briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City.