ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/28 October) — The military is not undertaking pursuit operations against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Basilan but has filed a complaint against them through the government peace panel’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH).
“If they want me to attack Al Barka now, we can do that any time pero kailangan may legitimacy, hindi yung parang ganti (not as vengeance). Kasi kung gumaganti ka lang, maggantihan na lang tayo lahat. Rido na lang. (Because we will end up exacting vengeance and that will not stop. That will be a rido). That would not be a legitimate combat operation. That is going to be a rido,” Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, chief of the Western Mindanao Command told MindaNews Friday on the naval boat between Basilan and Zamboanga.
He said this is not what they want to project: that they are out to exact vengeance. “We will exact justice, but we will follow the legal procedure and at the same time we will be protecting the Mindanao peace process. This is not going to be an all-out… gulo.”
Ferrer also said they are “conducting organizational restructuring there (Basilan),”
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Nineteen soldiers were killed and 10 others injured during a military operation in Al-barka, Basilan on October 18. MILF spokesperson Von Al Haq claimed five members of the MILF were killed and two others injured during that encounter.
The military claimed they were ambushed, the MILF claimed they were attacked. The military said they were there to serve a warrant of arrest against a criminal element; the MILF claimed the military should have coordinated with them, through the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group and the Joint CCCH.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said in a press conference at the Garden Orchid Hotel Friday afternoon that the Armed Forces of the Philippines will present its case against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) through the government peace panel’s CCCH which will then submit the complaint to the MILF’s CCCH (see other story). “This is what the AFP shall do now,” she said.
The government’s CCCH last week transmitted the Western Mindanao Command’s complaint to the MILF’s CCCH and the International Monitoring Team (IMT).
Ferrer said that aside from the filing of the complaint through the CCCH, the police is preparing to file charges against suspects.
“We are willing to go through the process,” the General said, adding, “we should not hurry justice.”
Deles, who was listening to MindaNews’ interview with the General, said “The ceasefire mechanism can be used to bring justice on the ground.”
Never again
In the presence of Local Governments Secretary Jesse Robredo, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman and Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles, Mayor Mohammad Kabukisan of Al-barka town repeatedly said during the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) meeting at the provincial capitol of Basilan on Friday: “Ayoko nang mangyari ulit yan. Ayoko nang mangyari ulit yan. Ayoko nang mangyari ulit yan.”
At the press conference in Zamboanga City Friday afternoon and attended also by the three Cabinet secretaries, Ferrer said the Basilan Command is re-establishing intelligence work with regards to Laksaw Dan Asnawi., the subject of a warrant of arrest that was supposed to have been served when the clash happened.
Basnawi, deputy commander of the MILF’s 114 Base Command of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, was among several BIAF officers and members facing multiple murder charges following the July 10, 2007 clash that resulted to the beheading of 14 Marines. Asnawi was arrested in 2009 but escaped from jail in Isabela City that same year and has been a target of police-military operations since.
Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman handed a P2 million cheque to Basilan Governor Jum J. Akbar as initial support for a cash-for-work relief project intended for the displaced families of Al-Barka town, numbering 1,891 families.
“Inutusan kami ng Presidente na tingnan kung ano ang pinakamahigpit na pangangailangan ng mga tao rito at tugunan ito sa mas madaling panahon” (The President ordered us to look into the priority needs of the people here and to respond to it immediately), Soliman told the Provincial Peace and Order Council meeting in Isabela, Basilan Friday morning. (Jules L. Benitez/MindaNews)
