|
COTABATO
CITY—Government
security forces are set to serve on Thursday the arrest
warrants against 130 Moro separatist rebelss accused of
killing 14 Marines on July 10 in Basilan. Fourteen of
the Marines were beheaded.
“They [beheaders]
are still in Basilan. Although we failed to find them in
the remote villages of Al-Barka and Guinanta towns, they
have nowhere to run, except to their respective
relatives,” Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, Muslim region
police commander, said.
In
Sarangani province, an intelligence report said armed
men, believed to be rebels from Basilan, onboard speed
boats landed recently in a coastal village in Kiamba
town.
Goltiao
said the policemen tasked to serve the warrants have
regrouped in preparation for Thursday’s operation.
At the
same time, Goltiao confirmed that the Armed Forces
deputy chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Pedrito Cadungog, said
that negotiations for the surrender of the suspects
between government emissaries and Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) leaders are ongoing.
Goltiao
said the government is negotiating under the auspices of
the Office of the National Security Adviser.
“There
is a move [to negotiate], but we [National Police] are
not directly involved,” he said.
Most of
the suspects are from Al-Barka, and the police have
witnesses who identified the Moro rebels involved in
the July 10 incident.
“We
adhere to the proper process of serving arrest warrants.
The policemen [tasked to serve the warrants] will not
engage in any combat and will only do just that—service
the warrants of arrest. However, we have a contingency
plan if violence breaks out and there’s a spillover in
some communities in the region,” Goltiao said.
“I
appeal to all people, especially to the people of Al-Barka
and neighboring towns, to coordinate with the police.
The law enforcers need your support. We could not
achieve our goal if there’s no local support,” he added.
As
Goltiao was appealing to the people of Basilan, he
ordered the intensification of intelligence operations
to track down the beheaders.
Senior
Supt. Salik Macapantar, Basilan police commander,
confirmed that Goltiao ordered the monitoring of all
possible hideouts of the suspects, who could have sought
refuge in other parts of the province.
On
Tuesday, Macapantar and 300 of his policemen swooped
down Al-Barka to serve the warrants of arrest, but
returned empty-handed since the suspects were all gone.
The
Regional Trial Court in Basilan has issued warrants of
arrest against the ambushers, who were tagged as members
of the Abu Sayyaf group and the MILF, after criminal
cases were filed against them.
The
Basilan police are set to serve again the warrants of
arrest on Thursday, after the 24-hour extension given to
the government-MILF Committee on Cease-fire and
Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) to complete its
investigation into the incident.
The
committee on Tuesday requested the postponement of the
serving of the warrants of arrest, since it has yet to
complete and come out with the results of the
investigation.
Presidential adviser on the peace process Jesus Dureza
told reporters at the Zamboanga International Airport
that he expects to receive a copy of the investigation
report by late Wednesday.
The head
of the MILF panel to the CCCH, Von Al Haq, meanwhile,
said that the front’s leadership has yet to study the
list of names that were included in the warrants of
arrest, to determine if all of them are really members
of the MILF.
Retired
Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, the government’s chief peace
negotiator, said the committee will furnish a copy of
their investigation result to the Department of Justice
“so that the proper legal action could be done toward
the direction of cleaning up the list that they have.” |
