ZAMBOANGA CITY, 13 July 2007 — While vowing retribution against rebels behind Tuesday’s ambush and beheading of Marines in the southern island of Basilan, the government yesterday said the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) must be preserved.
The military and MILF traded accusations over who started the gunbattle, which resulted in the death of 14 Marines, 10 of whom were beheaded, while they were combing Basilan jungles for kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi.
Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., the military chief of staff, said he has ordered the Marines to “hold their punches” so as not to scuttle the peace talks.
While sending more troops to Basilan, he said there would be “no escalation of hostilities.”
But he said this should not be taken as a sign of weakness. “Just be assured that while we are holding our punches, we can act accordingly. It is just because we have to give primacy to the peace process, don’t interpret that as a weakness on the government side,” Esperon said in an interview with reporters in Manila.
“With the death of 14, including 10 beheaded, there is a natural tendency to be angered by the dastardly act. But our soldiers are keeping their cool...keeping in mind that this is not all about just getting back at the perpetrators,” he added.
Acts of Savagery
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday also said: “The government will account for the perpetrators of this heinous attack in line with the rule of law, through the mechanisms of the peace process. The armed forces are duty-bound to hunt down and arrest those who treacherously killed and beheaded the soldiers.”
“If the perpetrators are Abu Sayyaf, the MILF must stand apart from these terrorists and allow their pursuit and interdiction by government forces. If MILF forces are culpable, then they must be accounted for by the cease-fire committees and be brought to justice,” Arroyo said, adding, “There can be no excuses or alibis for these acts of savagery.”
Arroyo was reacting to the statement of MILF leaders that only their fighters were involved in the fighting and that they were only defending their stronghold.
Both sides moved quickly to investigate the bloody attack, which has destroyed the reputation of Basilan island as a success story in US-backed operations to wipe out the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
The military blamed Abu Sayyaf snipers for firing bullets and rocket-propelled grenades on a small convoy of troops.
So Who Did It?
While saying there were no Abu Sayyaf militants in the place, MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said they were also perplexed at the barbarity employed and vowed to punish whoever was responsible for the beheadings.
Reports said rebels not only beheaded 10 of the soldiers but also severed their sex organs.
“That is not the work of the MILF. We do not allow mutilation of any part of the body,” MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu added. “We’re not proud of what happened,” he said, adding the clash could have been prevented had the government informed the rebels before they went into the MILF stronghold.”
Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, the military commander for Western Mindanao, said the government and rebel cease-fire committees have agreed to investigate the attack. He said the MILF should return the weapons they have seized in the fighting.
Iqbal has said rebel forces captured five M60 machine guns, one sub-machine gun, five M-203 automatic rifles, two M-14 rifles with sniper scopes, one night vision goggle and two radio transceivers.
Abu Sayyaf Commander
Col. Ramiro Alivio, the island’s military chief, said he was certain that MILF and Abu Sayyaf militants were together in the attack. Alivio said they have received reports that a senior Abu Sayyaf leader, Isnilon Hapilon and his son, were wounded in the gunbattle and that at least 30 MILF gunmen. The MILF said only four rebels were killed and seven others injured in the fighting.
Isnilon, who used to be an MILF commander in Basilan, is on the terror lists of the Philippines and United States and was implicated in the kidnappings of US citizens and foreigners in the restive South.
Maj. Gen. Nelson Allaga, Philippine Marines chief, said they will pursue the Abu Sayyaf even if the militants are hiding inside so-called MILF territories.
“Definitely, we will pursue the Abu Sayyaf wherever they are in Basilan,” Allaga said.
Alivio also said said the search for Bossi will continue. “We have persistent reports that Bossi is being held in Al-Barka town and the MILF is preventing us from searching the place,” he said.
Military and police said Bossi was kidnapped by rogue MILF leader Akiddin Abdusallam on June 10 after celebrating mass in the coastal town of Payao in Zamboanga Sibugay province.
Authorities said the MILF is holding the victim for ransom, but intelligence reports have also implicated unnamed politicians who were allegedly supplying the Abu Sayyaf and with mortar rockets, weapons and munitions. (With input from Inquirer News Service & Agencies)
