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| Southeast Asia |
| Arroyo addresses the situation in Mindanao |
| 2005-09-23 |
| SHORT stint, but with a very tough is what new Southern Command chief Lieutenant General Edilberto Adan will face in Mindanao where the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is having its biggest battle against terrorists. The AFP made this assessment in Metro Manila as Malacañang reportedly ordered Adan to get all the terrorists operating in the Island. Ten different factions in Mindanao--including the Abu Sayyaf group, Jemaah Islamiya (JI) and the New People's Army (NPA)--were included in the assessment report. The other leading forces mentioned in the assessment was the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Misuari breakaway group based in Western Mindanao, the Abu Sofia Group and the Pentagon Kidnap-for-Ransom Group (KRG) based in Central Mindanao and the Al-Qaeda linked group. Three others are identified with "lost command groups." As this developed, government troops battled the Misuari break-away forces in Sacol island, west-coast of the city last Monday morning, according to a report reaching the Southern command. No immediate casualties on either side were reported. The security forces deployed in the island were making their morning patrol when they chanced upon the heavily armed group. They clashed for several minutes before the armed group retreated, a Southcom source disclosed. The AFP lists the Misuari-renegade forces as among the ten active terrorist groups operating in Southern Philippines. They are mostly scattered in Sulu, Basilan and Zamboanga. The group formed part of the Misuari rebel forces that staged a short-lived uprising in Cabatangan this city in 2001. The incident gained worldwide attention when they held hostage more than 200 civilians living near their Cabatangan lair, which was overrun later by the military with air support from the Philippine Air Force that bombarded their hideout. Many people perished in the attack. The group set free all their hostages after a successful three-day negotiation that also led to their freedom somewhere in the Eleven Islands near Sacol. Meantime, President Gloria Macapagal Arrovo denied reports that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is giving sanctuary to the terrorists in their territory here in Mindanao. The President made the denial following persistent insinuations against her government that the MILF, with whom her administration is currently locked in peace talks, is coddling terrorists in Central Mindanao. She said, on the contrary, that the MILF is helping the government hunt down the Abu Sayyaf and the JI militant forces in Liguasan Marsh, where they reportedly hide from pursuing government troops. The vast Liguasan marshland is hard to penetrate by security forces, the AFP admitted. Arroyo made the statement when interviewed in Manila. After her successful trip to the United Nations Security Council last week, where she had the prestigious honor of presiding over the powerful council, she was hailed as the first Filipino leader, first Asian and the first woman to bang the gavel as chair of the UN Security Council. One of her main appeals to the rest of the world leaders is to vigorously fight terrorism that grips the entire free world. Her last minute instruction to Adan when the latter assumed his post here last August 9 was to capture Abu Sayyaf overall chieftain Kadaffy Janjalani dead or alive, utilizing all AFP available resources under his AOR here in the South. "This will help tone down his critics who are against his appointment as Southcom chief," a Malacanang news source said when reached for comment. Adan's post here was contested by newly promoted Lt. General Samuel Bagasin, who recently assumed as AFP deputy chief of staff, the post vacated by Adan. Bagasin was the former 4th Infantry Division commander based in Cagayan de Oro. He was highly recommended as the supposed 27th Southcom commander by the Board of Generals to replace retired Southcom head Lieutenant General Alberto Braganza; but his appointment was overturned by Arroyo, as the commander-in-chief, and instead placed Adan at the helm of the biggest AFP unified command outside Manila. Adan said he will do his very best to get Janjalani before he retires in January, next year. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |