Another battalion sent to Basilan

By James Mananghaya
Thursday, July 19, 2007

Manila---The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is deploying another Marine battalion in Basilan to augment government forces massing up in the province in preparation for the hunt for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels behind the June 10 ambush.

“We will be deploying another Marine battalion to the area, on top of the earlier deployment of a Marine battalion from Sulu to Basilan,” AFP Public Information Office chief Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said.

He said the deployment of additional troops is in anticipation of a bigger force against military operations following “punitive actions against the suspects.”

He said the AFP is also looking into the possibility of the Abu Sayyaf joining forces with the rebels in the area.

The Marines have two battalions deployed to augment a brigade already stationed in Basilan. The Army also has a brigade of troops in the province awaiting orders.

Bacarro said the Marines and the Army would be working in close coordination with each other in the conduct of their operations against the rebels behind the ambush.

Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Nelson Allaga said they have already identified the suspects behind the killing of the 14 Marines in Tipo-Tipo last week. Ten of the slain Marines were beheaded and mutilated by the rebels.

The soldiers were part of a contingent searching for kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi, following a tip that the priest was being held in an area in Tipo-Tipo.

The MILF admitted staging the attack but denied beheading the 10 Marines.

Rebels claimed they were forced to counter-attack after the Marines entered their territory without any permit.

Bacarro clarified the deployment of additional troops does not mean an all-out war against the MILF.

He said troop deployments will be focused against the gunmen behind the attack on the Marines, and is not a declaration of war against the MILF.

“We will work under the mechanism of the peace talks because we do not want to be indiscriminate in our operations. We would like to make sure that we would pinpoint the suspects and that our efforts would be concentrated on them. But these barbaric acts do not fall under the ambit of any peace talks,” he said.

As government troops start pouring in for the offensive, thousands of ethnic Yakans evacuated their communities out of fear of getting caught in the expected showdown between the Marines and the MILF in Basilan.

According to Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan, the evacuation of the Yakans was noticed by government relief agencies working in the region.

Ampatuan said the Yakans and other residents have moved out from their villages in the face of the expected breakout of hostilities between troops and the MILF following the killing and beheading of Marines in the province.

The incident has strained the peace negotiations and the ceasefire agreement between the government and the MILF.

Ampatuan said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) regional office in ARMM initially reported 5,213 Yakan natives have moved out from their villages between Albarka and Tipo-Tipo, fearing renewed clashes.

ARMM regional social welfare secretary Bai Rakma Ambolodto-Imam said that the villages being evacuated include Guinanta, Linuan, Makalang, Puhpuh, and the riverside communities of Bohe Naga, Bohe Lessen, Bohe Libu and Bohe Buug, all in Albarka.

Ampatuan claimed independent sources also confirmed tensions have run high in Albarka forcing more residents to evacuate to safer ground.

“As far as my information is concerned, there are more than 5,000 evacuees now, or maybe even more because the tension there remains so high,” Ampatuan said.

He said Basilan Gov. Jum Akbar and other local officials in the province are collectively appealing to police and military authorities to implement measures that can stave off any confrontation with the MILF.

“It’s the welfare of civilians that should be the paramount concern now of all sectors addressing the security issues in Basilan, including the Armed Forces and the MILF,” Ampatuan said.

The members of the ARMM’s Regional Disaster Coordinating Council have condemned the decapitation of the Marines last July 10 but also appealed to the MILF and the AFP to await the outcome of the investigation by the joint ceasefire committees.

Brig. Gen. Edgardo Gurrea, chairman of the government’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, and his MILF counterpart, Von Al-Haq, both appealed for time to wrap up their investigation of the incident.

Only an option

AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said a full military offensive is among the options against the rebels behind the attack.

“An (all-out war against MILF is) not necessary. As I said, we have options from 1 to 10. So an all-out offensive is always, as far as I am concerned, the last resort, but it is still an option,” Esperon said.

He said Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo has given the MILF a one-week ultimatum, which began last Sunday, to surrender the gunmen behind the ambush of the Marines.

And if the MILF ignores or fails to surrender the culprits, Esperon said the AFP is left with no option but to go after the perpetrators.

“As we said, right now we are continuing our plans for police action against the perpetrators. At the least, police action. We must be able to find who perpetrated this,” he said.

Esperon said they have asked the MILF to cooperate on the surrender of the gunmen after they owned up to the attack on the Marines.

He said the other option includes sticking to the provisions of the peace process, since a lot of people would be dislocated once a military offensive is conducted.

Esperon stressed the AFP is not scuttling the peace process mechanism between the government and the MILF.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said the MILF have conducted their own inquiry into the incident.

“The MILF had conducted their own investigation and we have our own,” Dureza said.

He said the MILF will compare their investigation with their counterparts in the government and bring the findings before the joint ceasefire committee.

Dureza admitted the beheadings in Basilan proved to be a difficult issue to resolve.

Though optimistic that the joint committee will resolve the issue, Dureza said “no one (who committed a crime) should enjoy immunity by invoking (the) peace process.”

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, on the other hand, said the Senate will conduct its own investigation of the incident, focusing on the accountability of government forces over the beheadings.

Biazon revealed the initial findings showed the Marines were left on their own without any support and reinforcements during the attack.

“There was not a support arm,” Biazon said, referring to the much needed artillery support, close-in air support, armor support and reinforcements.

When they finally extricated themselves from the so-called “killing zone,” the Marines were surprised to find heavily armed policemen and militiamen simply waiting for them.

One Marine recounted that the policemen and the militiamen were only three kilometers away from the scene of the fighting.

“They did not even bother to lend us the needed support. They simply waited for us,” recounted the Marine trooper.

In calling for a Senate inquiry, Biazon said he wanted some questions answered, like reports of faulty intelligence information provided to the Marines.

As it appeared, the troops had been misinformed of the prevailing situation, unaware that they would be facing over 500 heavily armed rebels in the area where they were looking for the kidnapped Italian priest.

Biazon also raised the question of how the rebels acquired blue-tipped M-203 grenade rounds which were supposed to be exclusively supplied to government troops.

Some of the Marines who survived the attack claimed to have recovered unexploded blue-tipped M-203 grenade rounds which landed near them at the height of the fighting.

Biazon said the ambush in Basilan “appeared to have broken all rules (in the ceasefire agreement).”

Criminal raps

ARMM police director Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao said murder charges are being prepared against the suspects in the ambuscade.

Goltiao identified the suspects as members of the MILF’s 114th Base Command and the Abu Sayyaf.

He said the charges were anchored on the testimonies of Marines who survived the attack last week.

“We hope to file in a week multiple murder charges against leaders and members of the 114th Base Command of the Abu Sayyaf Group and MILF,” Goltiao said.

Goltiao said they will make public the names of the suspects once the charges are filed.

He said the police had received information that the attack had a trace of vendetta after two MILF guerrillas were reportedly killed a few days before the ambush.

“So our evidence against the attackers are the actual death of our Marines, and statement of personalities in the area,” Goltiao said.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said plans to charge the MILF rebels in connection with a “legitimate encounter” would be against the spirit of the peace talks.

“That is contrary to the peace process,” Kabalu said, without saying what action the MILF would take in response. -With John Unson, Roel Pareño, Jaime Laude, Cecille Suerte Felipe, AP