Tausugs fighting troops
Malaysians nab 'Robot' - Report
By Faber Concepcion and Manny B. Marinay
ZAMBOANGA CITY—Hundreds
of ethnic Tausugs in Jolo, Sulu have reportedly taken up arms and they are the ones
engaging government forces, out to rescue the remaining 17 hostages still being held by
Abu Sayyaf terrorists, in skirmishes.
A still
unconfirmed flash report to the Foreign Affairs department said that Abu Sayyaf terrorist
leader Ghalib “Commander Robot” Andang has been arrested by Malaysian
authorities.
The DFA,
however, said the report is sketchy and they are still awaiting confirmation of Andang’s
arrest from Malaysia.
Over the weekend,
Kuala Lumpur announced the arrest of 96 Filipino Muslims who took advantage of the
Mindanao crisis, particularly the ongoing military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf, to
flee to Malaysia aboard kumpits.
Andang is one of
the most wanted Abu Sayyaf leaders who gained notoriety in the abduction of the mostly
foreign hostages from the Sipadan Island dive resort off Sabah on Easter Sunday, April 23.
Local officials
said the armed civilians came from the towns of Talipao, Patikul, Panamao, Luuk, Maimbung
and Indanan which were pounded by bombs and mortar shells at the start of the full-scale
assault which entered its 11th day yesterday.
This developed as
Army soldiers arrested 12 Tausug worshippers during a lightning raid on the biggest Muslim
mosque in Tulay, Jolo, Monday night and confiscated three high-power firearms.
The
government-owned radio station, in a nationwide broadcast, said the soldiers seized one
Uzi assault rifle, an M-17 Armalite, a handgun and a hand grenade.
But Muslim
religious leaders protested the raid, saying the soldiers desecrated the place by barging
into the mosque with their shoes on, a violation of Islamic laws, imam Yacub Ismi said.
The civilian
uprising was triggered by what sources described as the indiscriminate killing of
residents by government forces, somehow bolstering the claim of the Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF) that more than 200 ordinary folk were killed in the ongoing
campaign.
“They’re
avenging their relatives killed by soldiers,” said a local official who requested
anonymity.
‘Salvagings’
Field reports
received in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City also indicated that alleged salvagings (summary
executions) and indiscriminate killings by the military of Sulu residents suspected to be
Abu Sayyaf supporters resulted in the increase in the number of civilian casualties.
Dr. Nelsa Amin,
Sulu provincial health chief, hinted there could be more casualties than what was reported
as she herself cannot “confirm the number of deaths” because the military
refused to give health officials clearance to check the eight towns affected by the
massive military operations.
But the first to
reveal a case of salvaging by the military was Susan Cortez, a Jolo resident, whose
brother, Romeo Cortez, was reportedly gunned down by government troops on Sept. 18 on
suspicion that he was an Abu Sayyaf supporter.
Susan said her
brother was a Muslim missionary who lived a life devoted to helping others.
She said the
military has been scouring the houses in Jolo and nearby towns looking for supporters of
the terrorists.
Pressured by
orders from their superiors, government troops conduct raids to produce “warm bodies
of suspected Abu Sayyaf members,” Susan said as she echoed the complaint of Sulu
residents.
Casualties
The Organization
of Islamic Conference (OIC) has also expressed concern over the reported rise in civilian
casualties.
Libyan Ambassador
to the Philippines Salem Adam told a diplomatic reception in Makati City Monday evening
that the OIC is sending a team to Mindanao on Oct. 16 to make a first-hand assessment of
the progress in the implementation of the peace agreement between the government and the
MNLF.
One of the crucial
issues, which the team will look into is the military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf
terrorists in Sulu which is part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Adam
said.
“There’s
a (OIC) fact-finding mission that is coming on Oct. 16 and they have the right to ask the
Philippine government if something happened in Sulu,” he said. “So far, there
are no reports even in media on the casualties, particularly on how many civilians were
killed or wounded.”
However, acting
Foreign Secretary Lauro Baja Jr. stressed that the Philippines dictates on the term of
reference that the OIC team has to follow.
This means, Baja
said, that Manila will determine where the team will go, who to talk to or whether it will
allow the team to visit Sulu.
Sulu Gov.
Abdusakur Tan reported there were only two civilians killed and four others wounded.
But field reports
provided by residents claim otherwise. “Many were killed but there is no way we
could go there because of the tight military cordon,” a long-time Sulu resident who
flew to Manila told THE MANILA TIMES.
Up to yesterday,
the military refused to present to media the 20 Abu Sayyaf terrorists they reportedly
captured.
‘Cedula’
A military
official, who requested not to be named, confirmed that they now require Sulu residents to
secure a cedula (residence certificate) so they won’t be mistaken for Abu Sayyaf
supporters or members.
The military has
put up checkpoints in the towns of Parang, Maimbung, Indanan, Talipao, Panamao, Luuk and
Patikul.
The cedulas would
allow residents to board Navy ships and Air Force planes if they decide to leave war-torn
Jolo.
Jolo police head,
Chief Insp. Mohammad Noe Alamia, said at least 3,500 residents had applied for police
clearances. A police clearance is one of the requirements for a cedula, the military
said.
A group of newsmen
toured by the military on Jolo on Monday said majority of the civilians in
military-installed evacuation centers kept mum, which military officials said buttressed
suspicions that majority of the civilians in the six towns sympathized with the bandits,
especially the faction of Ghalib Andang alias “Commander Robot” and Mujib
Susukan.
The duo was
believed to have amassed some $15 million in ransom money for the Western and Asian
hostages they released last month. The mostly-European hostages were kidnapped from
a resort on Sipadan Island, Malaysia, last April 23.
26 clashes
Since the assault
began on Saturday last week, Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Angelo Reyes said government
troops had engaged the bandits 26 times, resulting in the death of 106 Abu Sayyaf members.
He stood by an
earlier report there were only four civilian casualties, in sharp contrast to the more
than 200 casualties reported by Uttoh Salem Cutan, executive director of the Southern
Philippines Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD).
Cutan said the
report on the civilians killed came from MNLF camps in Sulu.
In an attempt to
restrict the movements of the fleeing bandits, the military cut off commercial
transportation and telephone links, isolating Jolo from the outside world and compounding
the woes of the island’s half million residents.
Military
checkpoints and patrols sealed off Jolo town, the main trading center, from the rest of
the island.
The military has
tried to play down the cost on civilian lives due to its offensive.
So far, more than
36,000 people have been displaced from their homes and at least two civilians have been
killed and four wounded, by official count. There have been unconfirmed accounts of large
numbers of civilian deaths, looting by soldiers of abandoned homes, and torture and
killings of suspected rebels or sympathizers, but these could not be independently
confirmed.
--with Charmaine C. Deogracias
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