Philippines War: President Sets Deadline to Crush Separatists as Fighting
Rages
by Ma Nguyen Tong
31-3-2003
Philippines President Gloria Arroyo
set a 90-day deadline on February 28, 2003 for the military to crush the
Abu Sayyaf Muslim separatist group in the southern Philippines, as opposition
grew to further deployment of US troops as Filipinos perceived this as the
increasing Vietnamification of the long-running civil war. The deadline was
announced as more US troops prepared to deploy with the support of the USS
Essex carrier battle group even as Mrs Arroyo on appeared to rule out
an active combat role for US troops in the fight against the country's
separatists, one day after a bomb killed 21 people and injured over 160 others.
An army battalion commander survived an ambush in which five were killed.
In the meantime, the CPP admitted to having killed another 21 government
troopers in a series of tactical offensives. The Philippines' two biggest
separatist groups agreed to help each other fight the government but had
not combined their forces for joint attacks even as the army managed to repulse
an attack by over 1,000 separatists. Well over 300 were killed in March as
the government deployed over 40 percent of its total national military into
the fighting. During the last week of March Philippine government officials
and the Muslim separatists resumed peace talks aimed at ending the rebellion
with an agreement to resume formal peace talks.
"We have given the military a deadline for the Abu Sayyaf group [of] 90 days,"
Mrs Arroyo said during a visit to a military camp east of Manila.
"If they have the proper allocation of resources, they'll be able to finish
the Abu Sayyaf in 90 days," she said, citing the capture in mid-February
of a separatist camp belonging to another group in the south, the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) after a week-long campaign that saw over 200 casualties.
"We'll redouble our efforts," military chief of staff Gen Dionisio Santiago
said. "We'll be very frank also. Commanders will be replaced if they are
not performing."
Debate grew in the Philippines about the deployment of US troops "to assist
and advise" Filipino soldiers hunting the separatists. Nationalist groups
criticised the decision as a violation of the constitution, while Muslim
leaders in the area warned the Americans would be met with hostility. Most
Filipinos were now opposed to the deployment of US troops, with domestic
newspapers calling the move a Vietnamification of the Philippines' conflict
and the country's president being nothing more than a puppet of the White
House administration.
Asked about opposition to the deployment, Mrs Arroyo said: "I don't react
to the statements of other people."
Thousands of Filipinos joined in anti-war and anti-US protests at Rizal Park
to send a message to President Arroyo that she was all alone in her support
for the US, its wars and intervention in the Philippines conflict. Philippines
Vice President Teodoro Guingona was one of the rally leaders. Guingona and
Archbishop Teodoro Bacani unveiled a peace quilt made of colurful scraps
of cloth stitched together to create a symbol of the Filipino people's united
stand against the war on Iraq and Mindanao, the seat of the troubles in the
Philippines.
Multi-awarded and playwright Rafael Mariano said: "We hope the Philippine
government will heed the nationwide call from all Filipinos for neutrality
and not [show] blind obedience to the plans of the White House. As an immediate
step all US troops should be withdrawn from Mindanao and elsewhere to prevent
the increased Vietnamification of the Philippines' armed conflicts."
MILF bombs another tranmission tower
Meanwhile, the separatists blasted another electrical transmission tower
in Mindanao during the night of February 28, a day after blacking out most
of the region in similar attacks, leaving 18 million people in the dark.
Arroyo rules out US combat role?
Amidst the rising opposition of the Philippines people to having American
troops operating on Philippine soil, Mrs Arroyo on March 5 appeared
to rule out an active combat role for US troops in the fight against the
country's separatists, one day after a bomb killed 22 people and injured
159 others. Mrs Arroyo, speaking after visiting survivors of the blast, said
Philippine troops would have to do the fighting, as stipulated by the
constitution.
Her comments appeared to be at odds with US orders to her for a more active
role in the long-standing struggle against Muslims, some of which Washington,
as pretext for sending troops to the country, accused of having terrorist
links with al Qaeda.
"I have drawn the line at non-combat, where I want our soldiers to do the
fighting and not their soldiers," Mrs Arroyo said. She was speaking as confusion
surrounded the Davao attack. A man claiming to represent the radical Islamic
group Abu Sayyaf said it planted the bomb. But authorities in Manila dismissed
the claim, instead blaming the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF, for
the attack. They arrested five suspected MILF separatists within hours of
the blast, which exploded outside the arrivals terminal at Davao City airport
on the island of Mindanao.
Amidst already high tensions in the region, another bomb ripped through a
department store in the southern city of Cotabato the following day, causing
a small fire but no casualties, police said. It was clear whether this bomb
was connected to the attack in Davao.
Disputed claim
Abu Sayyaf's claim of responsibility came from Hamsiraji Sali, one of the
group's senior leaders, a local television network said. He apologised to
the victims and threatened more attacks. Colonel Bonifacio Ramos, a military
commander on the nearby island of Basilan, said: "This guy is lying and he
is just trying to ride on the propaganda."
MILF kills 11, takes 6 soldiers captive
At least 11 people were killed and one was wounded after the MILF attacked
three towns in Lanao del Norte at dawn on March 6. Their soldiers also captured
6 army soldiers and a militiaman during a raid in a barangay. The separatists
had not quite determined what they would do with their captives, but indicated
they would be treated well as prisoners of war and eventually turned over
to the International Commission of the Red Cross. The soldiers were taken
prisoners after 100 MILF soldiers attacked Baragay Sigayan in Balo-i Town.
Army commander survives ambush
An army battalion commander surved an ambush by the MILF at the boundary
of Pikit, North Cotabato and Pagalungan. Two other soldiers escorting Alexander
Estomo. commander of the the 6th Infantry Battalion, were wounded
in the attack.
Tstomo and his escorts, along with other soldier sin separate vehicles, were
on their way to the 6th ID headquarters when the abushers, positioned
at one side of a farm-to-market road connecting the Buliok complex to the
Pikit town proper, fired at them with B-40 rockets and automatic weapons.
Although outnumbered, Estomo and his managed to return fire, killing five
of the ambushers. Three of them were identified as close relatives of the
MILF's reclusive leader, Hashim Salamat. The ambush heightened anew the tension
in the surroundings og Pikit and Pagalungan, scene of fierce, bloody clashes
in February.
As the fighting in that part of the Philippines intensified, the Philippine
navy reployed 10 more warships to reinforce the roops in Davao, Zamboanga,
Palawan, Cebu, Southern Tagalog near Manila, and northern Luzon. Cmdr. Geronimo
Malabanan, navy spokesman, said the ships would provide addtional patrols,
perform sealift tasks, set up a naval blockade, provide fuel, support the
ground troops, and transport troops in the six areas where the fighting was
the fiercest.
CPP admits killing 21 troopers
The Communist Party of the Philippines admitted that their soldiers killed
at least 21 troopers in a series of tactical offensives, which began in February.
Their tactical manoeuvres reached tantalizingly close to Metro Manlia, with
the killing of the police chief of Cabuyao, Laguna in southern Tagalog because
of his involvement in spy missions and other forms of government operations.
The operations continued with the killing of another 20 troopers in various
operations. In Agusan del Sur, NPA guerrillas disarmed the army's
36th Infantry Battalion stationed in Talacogon. The CPP said that
the soldiers did not put up a fight and instead peacefully surrendered M-14
automatic rifles and M-16 Armalites, a Garand rifle and ammunition.
Eight killed as MILF grabs 30 prisoners
Six separatists, a soldier and a militiaman were killed when some 200 MILF
separatists waylaid a bus in North Cotabato on March 10 and taking its passengers
as prisoners. The 200 gunmen fired on the vehicle in the town of Pikit and
forced the passengers into a nearby school. One passenger--a soldier who
was in civilian clothes, but had military ID and a pistol in his luggage--was
executed on the spot with a shot to his head--in accordence with the 1948
Convention of the Geneva Protocol of Warfare wherein it is permissible to
execute a combatant not wearing a recognized uniform. He was identified as
M/Sgt Juanito Digno. Six of the MILF fighters and a militiaman were killed
in the ensuring clash with troops.
Separatist groups unite their cause - War against state and threats
against US
The Philippines' two biggest separatist groups agreed to help each other
fight the government but had not combined their forces for joint attacks,
a senior rebel leader said late on March 10. Communist spokesman Gregorio
Rosal, in a radio interview, also warned that US troops would be "legitimate
targets" if they moved into strongholds of the leftist New People's Army
while operating with Philippine soldiers in counter-terrorism exercises.
The NPA and the MILF each have about 12,000 fighters. Mr Rosal said the NPA
and the MILF had not yet reached the stage of coordinated attacks. However,
he revealed that they were cooperating in training and in protecting each
other's fighters if attacked.
He said: "The field commanders also work with each other.
"If one is on the retreat then the other shelters him," he said on Radio
Veritas, a station run by the Roman Catholic Church. "I don't know of any
discussions to hold joint operations. That is a little difficult. That is
still in the planning stage."
Some officials suggested the bombing on March 4 that killed 21 people in
the southern city of Davao might have been a joint operation by the two groups.
The Philippine military had in the past accused the two groups of working
together. However, this was the first confirmation of cooperation from a
senior separatist official.
The communist separatists operate in small pockets all over the Philippines
including in the south, where the MILF is one of a range of Muslim groups
fighting for autonomy.
Mr Rosal said the NPA would view any shift in US-Philippine exercises from
a mainly Muslim southern island to communist areas as "an act of aggression".
"The American aggressors will be legitimate targets of our military operation
if they enter guerrilla zones in any part of Luzon and the Visayas," he said.
Luzon, in the north, is the main Philippine island and the Visayas are a
cluster of islands in the central region.
The presidential palace said it was forwarding a recommendation by provincial
governors to hold joint operations on Mindoro Island, off Luzon, to military
planners finalising details of the planned operations.
Over 1,000 MILF fighters repulsed in Pikit
More than 1,000 MILF separatist fighters were repulsed by the military as
they tried to recapture their former stronghold in Pikit. The earlier attack
by 200 fighters had actually been staged as a diversionary manoeuvre.
The fighters attacked on March 10 the military forces occupying the captured
enclave located on the outskirts of Pikit, blasting the area with rockets
and mortars. The government forces used fighter-bombers and helicopter gunships
to disperse the attackers. The jungle was carpet-bombed with 500-lb bombs.
There were numerous casualties on both sides during the one-hour firefight.
The military deployed additional troops to the area.
Death toll hits 200 in three days of fighting
After three attempts to recapture their former stronghold, MILF fighters
continued to suffer heavy losses with over 200 killed in three days. Despite
their mounting death toll in the all-out war, the MILF still pressed on their
attacks. Maj. Gen Hermogenes Esperon said that of the Philippines' military's
112,000 officers and enlisted men, 45,000 or 40 percent were now deployed
in the heavy fighting. The military also took heavy casualties but the exact
number was unknown. Battalion after battalion was poured into the fierce,
hot fighting, with at least four battalions of army and marines alone holding
the the 60-ha complex.
Another 36 killed
Fierce clashes greeted the March 14 visit to civilian evacuation sites of
Lybian Ambassador Salem Adam and leaders of the MILF initiating back-channel
efforts to revive peace talks between the government and the MILF. This developed
into 36 more casualties in chance encounters that began the night before.
Sporadic fighting elsewhere resulted in 20 more casualties elsewhere as the
MILF attempted to block the Narciso Ramos Highway between Davao and Cotabato.
Separatists attack Philippines town
Separatists killed at least five people, including a child, in an attack
on a mainly Christian town in the south of the country, the Philippine army
said. An army spokesman, Major Julieto Ando, said guerrillas from the MILF
fired rocket-propelled grenades into houses in the predominantly Christian
town of M'Lang.
He said soldiers later killed five separatists in a gun battle.
Philippines separatists in peace talks
Philippine government officials and the separatists resumed peace talks during
the last few days of March. Three representatives of the MILF and four government
negotiators gathered in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur for the two-day
meeting.
"The fighting in some areas has disrupted somehow the negotiations. So we
have to put them back on track again," Jesus Dureza, who is leading the
government peace panel, told reporters before the talks began. A ceasefire
signed in 2001 had been tested by continuing sporadic violence, but hostilities
intensified since February, when government troops overran an MILF stronghold
near Pikit, on Mindanao island. More combatants were dying every day than
during the concurrent war in Iraq.
Mr Dureza said he did not expect the talks to produce instant results.
"We are addressing rebellion in Mindanao that is three generations old,"
he said. "And we don't have the magic formula to do that."
"We have to continue engaging them, taking one step at a time and moving
forward," Mr Dureza added.
The government negotiator said the "exploratory" talks would aim to map out
a peace process. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu also cautioned against hopes for
an early peace. Mr Kabalu said that he expected both sides to discuss issues
related to the implementation of the 2001 ceasefire agreement.
Clash near Manila leaves 27 dead
Five policemen, two soldiers and at least 20 NPA separatists were killed
in a major clash in Bulacan, only about 55 km from Manila, as the separatist
forces closed in on the capital city. The clash took place on the last weekend
of March, and the army said they had since been able to stabilise the situation.
More rebels were also killed in Basilan and other provinces between Luzon
and the south.