The task of researching the material for this book proved more arduous than originally anticipated. The Abu Sayyaf Group was generally misunderstood in their formation, goals, ideology – if any – and structure. Consequently, it became necessary to chronologically trace all the crimes attributed to the group as well as research the lives and deeds of the leaders and majordomos in the group. This at times became a task of trying to distinguish what was fact from what was myth.

The main source of primary evidence for this book came from newspaper reports and official Philippine Government media releases – including Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) releases. The newspaper reports, and AFP releases, were, in the main, carefully choreographed to reflect the domestic security policies of the Philippine Administration of the time. Individual reports, including those from the Bangkok-based Focus on the Global South, gave a more balanced account of the Abu Sayyaf activities and their leaders.

After careful consideration of all data and evidence available, it became obvious the Abu Sayyaf had been in decline since its heyday of 2002. This was even more so since the death of Khadaffy Janjalani in the middle part of the first decade of the 21st century. The conclusion reached was that the Abu Sayyaf in 2012 existed in name only – or fragmented cells – more so than any organised terrorist entity.