MANILA,
OCTOBER 22, 2011 (STAR) FIRST PERSON By Alex Magno - I
will agree that the peace effort with the MILF is precious. It must be saved —
although not at all costs.
There was nothing honorable in the ambush pulled by MILF units against an
Army platoon out to serve an arrest warrant against a notorious terrorist. The
fact that six soldiers were taken alive and then ingloriously murdered is an
outrage.
This is not war. This is plain atrocity.
The Army was at a disadvantage from the start. As a matter of policy, the
troops are under orders to respect the ceasefire agreed with the MILF. When the
platoon was under attack, the Army had to maneuver around the constraints of the
ceasefire arrangement to bring in reinforcements. The delay resulted in a
massacre.
The Army spokesman barely conceals his dismay. He asked the civilian
authorities to review the ceasefire arrangements to allow our military units to
operate with optimal effectiveness. Under those arrangements, the military is
inhibited from pursuing those responsible for this brutality.
The soldiers are not just sad about the deaths of their comrades; they are
sad about the policies that led to this.
The blogs, of course, are not as respectful of the civilian authority. There,
the public outrage is explicit. There is politically incorrect anger smoldering,
often bordering on ethnic and religious hatred.
In contrast, the response of the administration is vastly more tepid. The
President, through his spokesmen, expressed sadness over the event. Government's
chief negotiator appeared trying to diminish the significance of what happened
by labeling it an "isolated incident." The AFP, under severe policy constraints,
was obliged to say they will file murder charges against those responsible for
this atrocity.
Say that again? If the AFP files murder charges against those who pulled this
brutal ambush, will we send yet another platoon of Scout Rangers into harm's way
to serve an arrest warrant against killers of their colleagues?
I must take issue with the chief negotiator's characterization of this
atrocity as an "isolated incident." It is not isolated. It is symptomatic.
I have warned in this space against assuming the MILF to be an integral
organization. It is more a loose alliance of factions and warlords. The rebel
leaders negotiating with government can only pretend they have full command and
control of all their forces. The fact is, the individual commanders may choose
to obey policies from the top — or simply ignore them.
We saw that in the case of Umbra Kato. We see this again in the case of the
Basilan commanders of the MILF, who openly collaborate with the Abu Sayyaf and
other criminal gangs in the locality. The ambush last Wednesday could not have
been a mere accidental skirmish. There was enough rebel firepower assembled to
wipe out a unit of our best-trained troops.
It will be naïve, and ultimately dangerous, to overlook the organizational
characteristic of this heavily armed separatist (and in some cases, Islamist)
movement. We simply cannot take commitments made by the movement's leaders at
face value. It is not a matter of sincerity; it is a matter of organizational
capacity.
This is where, reading in between the polite utterance of the Army spokesman,
adjustments in policy needs to be made. We cannot send our troops to the
frontline with one hand tied behind their backs.
In contrast with the wild and loose organizational structure of the MILF, the
AFP is an organization with effective command and control. Policy is obeyed down
the line. That made our fighting force unduly exposed to precisely the peril
that happened this week.
I am dismayed by the futile spin being attempted, apparently by the Palace
Blackberry brigade, to say basically that the past administration is to blame
for the deaths of our fighting men. The absurd line goes like this: the previous
administration allowed corruption to flourish in the military; therefore, the
soldiers ran out of ammo and were wiped out.
I know that the Scout Rangers travel very light. They prefer it that way,
unlike the Marines who tend to move with full armor complement and excessive
firepower. After nine hours of intense fighting, without relief or
reinforcement, they are bound to run out of ammo. The delay in the arrival of a
relieving force is the matter of concern here.
One survivor reports that as many as 400 heavily armed rebels assaulted the
Army platoon. Our brave soldiers were not outfought; they were grossly
outnumbered. Some of our very best fighting men were lost here.
True, the peace process must be saved. There is no better option. But poorly
conceived policy results in tragedies like this one that, in turn, diminish the
public enthusiasm for the peace process. Only smarter policies based on respect
for the combat considerations of our fighting men will guarantee the peace
effort will not sink into the quagmire of public disdain.
Dead
What a disappointment. The flamboyant Moammar Gadhafi was not expected to do
the predictable thing, which is to run to the safety of his hometown.
Now we know: the tyrant sought sanctuary in Sirte. He did not, as some
expected, organize a guerrilla force in the desert and lead a
counter-revolutionary resistance away from the creature comforts he had gotten
used to.
All these weeks, he was huddled in a house and tried to escape through a
sewer pipe. There he was shot and killed by revolutionary fighters.
Months ago, Gadhafi called those involved in the popular uprising "rats." In
the end, it was the tyrant who died like a rodent, wet in the sewer.
This is a distasteful way to die — although probably most fitting.
ASSOCIATED PRESS: PHL WON'T RETALIATE AFTER REBELS' BLOODY
INSURGENCE
By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press
President
Benigno Aquino III said Thursday he would not resort to ordering an army
offensive against Muslim guerrillas who killed 19 army soldiers in the southern
Philippines despite a clamor for tougher government action.
Tuesday's intense fighting on southern Basilan island between army special
forces and members of the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front killed 25
combatants, including six guerrillas. It was some of the deadliest fighting
since 2008, when peace talks bogged down and ignited widespread clashes that
killed hundreds and displaced 750,000 people.
A cease-fire guarded by a Malaysia-led peacekeeping contingent had held until
Tuesday.
The rebels have waged a bloody insurgency for self-rule in the southern
Mindanao region, the homeland of minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman
Catholic Philippines. The conflict has killed more than 120,000 people in nearly
four decades.
The military and the guerrillas accused each other of instigating Tuesday's
clash. Both planned to protest before a government-rebel truce committee.
Army officials, angered by their heavy loss, also publicly disagreed with
officials handling peace talks with the Moro rebels. Government negotiator
Marvic Leonen said the clash was accidental and peace talks would proceed.
"Maybe in his perspective that was a misencounter because he doesn't treat
the rebels anymore as enemies," army spokesman Col. Antonio Parlade told DZRH
radio.
Parlade said six of the soldiers ran out of ammunition while the gunbattle
raged and were taken captive by the guerrillas. They were later found dead with
hack wounds, sparking anger in the 120,000-strong military.
"Our soldiers are mourning, they're not talking but we could feel their
anger," he said.
Government officials should temporarily lift the cease-fire in Basilan and
allow troops to hunt down the insurgents, Parlade said. The predominantly Muslim
island is about 550 miles (880 kilometers) south of Manila.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, a former defense chief, said the
government should suspend talks if the country's largest Muslim rebel group
would not surrender their fighters behind the killing of the troops.
"They better break it up and conduct an operation unless the rebels surrender
those people," Enrile said. "What peace talks are we talking about when they're
engaging us in combat?"
Aquino, however, said that breaking a truce with the rebels and resuming
outright war would not benefit anyone.
"Are we advocating 'let's go all out war' and that redounds to an improvement
in the situation?" Aquino asked. "We should learn, nobody benefits in war," he
said.
Aquino condoled with the families of the soldiers and called for a meeting on
Friday with his defense chief and top generals to discuss why the army incurred
heavy losses in Al-Barka, where 10 marines were beheaded by militants in 2007.
British Ambassador Stephen Lillie, whose country supports the talks, said all
steps should be taken to prevent more clashes. The Al-Barka fighting displaced
more than 3,000 villagers.
"Incidents like this underline the urgency of a political solution to the
conflict," Lillie said.
Malaysian-brokered peace talks between the rebels and the government received
a major boost in August when Aquino met rebel chairman Al Haj Murad Ibrahim in
Tokyo to bolster the talks.
The rebels, however, rejected a government proposal for Muslim autonomy when
talks resumed a few weeks later but they vowed to continue with the talks.
Chief News Editor:
Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011
by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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