A CONGRESSMAN on Saturday cautioned against calls to declare an all-out war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), following the separatist group’s encounter with members of the National Police’s Special Action Force (SAF), “as this could just be an attempt to incite more violence in Mindanao.”
Liberal Party (LP) Rep. Jerry P. Treñas of Iloilo City said that, while the nation is hurting because of the treacherous massacre of 44 SAF troopers, an all-out war against the MILF is exactly what Islamic extremist groups, like al-Qaeda, Jema’ah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf, would want to happen.
“This is falling into the trap of these Islamic terrorists. Our rage and our yearning for vengeance should not cloud our sense of reason. Waging an all-our war against the MILF will only aggravate the situation in Mindanao,” Treñas said.
The lawmaker added that people and groups who are calling for an all-out war against the MILF are only providing Islamic extremists the right excuse to convince the MILF to withdraw from the negotiating table and take part in its terror campaign.
Treñas said he supports the Aquino administration’s continued commitment to pursue the finalization of its peace talks with the MILF, while making sure that those responsible for the debacle would be held accountable for the death of the “Fallen 44.”
After the encounter in Maguindanao, lawmakers’ support for the passage of the Bangsamoro basic law (BBL) in the House of Representatives “eroded,” Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. admitted.
Belmonte, however, said that, despite the bloody clash between the SAF commandos and the MILF guerrillas, he is confident that the Bangsamoro bill will still be passed by members of Congress.
Retaliatory attacks
LP Rep. Karlo B. Nograles of Davao, who is a member of the House special ad hoc committee on the BBL, warned that security forces should prepare for retaliatory attacks by Islamic extremists in Mindanao, following reports that Malaysian terrorist and bomb-making expert Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Abu Marwan, was killed in the police raid that tragically ended into an encounter between operatives of the SAF and the combined elements of the MILF and the Bangsomoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
According to Nograles, Islamic terrorist groups, such as the al-Qaeda-affiliated Abu Sayyaf Group, could take advantage of the volatile situation in Mindanao, and possibly launch attacks to incite further armed violence in the region.
“With the announcement by the MILF that Marwan is dead and the pronouncement by the President of an all-out campaign to get Basit Usman, I hope our security forces are doing everything possible to protect the Filipino public against retaliation by terrorist groups. With all Filipinos mourning for the 44 fallen SAF troops and due to the low morale being suffered by our police personnel, there is well-founded fear that terrorists might take advantage of the situation to sow destruction across the nation,” Nograles said.
“Our law-enforcement agencies must rise above emotions and all the more keep tight watch of the situation, and all citizens must remain vigilant and watchful,” he added.
Ebdane appeals for sobriety
SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—Gov. Hermogenes E. Ebdane Jr. of Zambales, a former National Police chief who also once commanded the SAF, appealed for sobriety amid the raging issue on the Mamasapano debacle, where at least 44 police officers perished in a clash with Muslim separatists on Sunday.
Weighing in on the issue at the sidelines of the Central Luzon Regional Development Council (RDC-3) meeting here on Friday, Ebdane said nothing would be solved by putting the blame on anybody at this point of the investigation.
“Let the investigators do their job,” Ebdane stressed during an interview with newsmen here. “If we want to solve the problem, let us allow resolutions to come forth,” he added.
He said that, as of now, what is important is to ascertain what really happened, and, after that, to correct whatever mistakes that resulted in the massacre.
“I feel sorry for the men who were killed. They died with their boots on,” said Ebdane, who commanded the SAF from 1989 to early 1991.
“But that’s how it is with any operation: You start with intelligence, come up with a plan and execute it. But sometimes the operation doesn’t succeed 100 percent,” he added.
Ebdane also defended Director General Alan Purisima, the suspended Philippine National Police chief, who is blamed for the fiasco.
“Those people are barking up the wrong tree. That is uncalled for,” Ebdane said.
“If you read the plan for the operation [to get Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan], you’d know that it was initiated by Purisima. That’s true. But he had been suspended [prior to the operation],” Ebdane said.
“An operation doesn’t get suspended because its main planner has been suspended. So it has to be carried out [by somebody else],” he added.
Ebdane said that it was very unfortunate that the SAF members ventured into a territory controlled by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is also a known haven for the MILF’s lost command, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
“In the service, it is always the command to get your target at all cost, but this is not something that we could have expected,” he added.
With Henry Empeño
Image credits: Henry Empeño