The Philippine National Police (PNP) is set to file murder charges against 11 members of the Abu Sayyaf in connection with the beheading of several of its hostages, the PNP said yesterday.

Chief Superintendent Nestorio Gualberto, PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group commander, said the murder charges will be filed in southern Zamboanga City against the Abu Sayyaf members.

Ten of the rebels have been detained by the justice department for months now and are facing charges of kidnap-for-ransom. Murder charges will also be filed against Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffi Janjalani.

The PNP decided to file murder charges against the jailed Abu Sayyaf members and Janjalani after the government showed to the public videos of extremists executing their victims - two Marines who were captured during a clash in southern Basilan in 1994.

While the airing of the videos by local television stations drew outrage from government critics who found the clip distasteful, the gory footage also prompted several other Abu Sayyaf victims of abduction to surface and tell authorities about the ordeal they suffered under the extremists.

"We believe testimony from these people will boost our case against the Abu Sayyaf," said Gualberto.

Earlier, Alfredo Penaflor, an Abu Sayyaf hostage, told the authorities he was made to execute a village chief and his son in 1994 against his will.

Penaflor, an employee of a land surveying company, was abducted along with his colleague Junie Abines in November 1994. They were freed in January the following year but chose to keep from authorities their abduction story until recently when the execution video was made public.

Gualberto said the 10 other Abu Sayyaf members who are currently detained at a prison south of Manila, were captured during government operations in Basilan last year.

Meanwhile, the husband of Deborah Yap, a nurse who is being held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf, has abandoned his family, including their four children.

As a result, this has made it difficult for the family to raise the ransom money demanded by the group, said a relative.

Yap's estranged husband, Jose, a miner from Cotabato, has virtually abandoned his family even before his wife was abducted last year, said Yap's brother David Pamaran.

"He stopped supporting my sister and the children long before her abduction last June and has not bothered to find out how they are doing," Pamaran said.

Yap's mother is taking care of Yap's four children, Pamaran said, adding: "My mother can hardly make ends meet. She is trying to raise Deborah's kids using her own savings and the $ 40 that Deborah used to earn as a hospital nurse."