Arroyo calls off punitive actions in Basilan for three days as GRP-MILF CCCH investigates July 10 incident

By Ronron
July 27, 2007

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to temporarily call off the planned punitive actions in Basilan against selected members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) believed responsible for the death of 14 Marines soldiers, 10 of whom were mutilated, last July 10.

AFP Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) spokesman Maj. Eugene Batara said Arroyo issued the directive during the command conference held yesterday at the military’s main camp in Zamboanga City as the Coordinating Committee of the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) of the government and the MILF kicked off its fact-finding mission over the July 10 incident in Al-Barka, Basilan.

“The President approved the suspension of the punitive actions until Monday when the CCCH is expected to finish its investigation over the Basilan incident,” Batara said in a phone interview.

“After Monday, we can already start our punitive actions,” he added.

But AFP WESMINCOM chief Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo clarified that they will have to await the President’s go-signal for them to proceed with their police action on Tuesday.

“We will have to wait of course the result of their investigation. The three days is more of a timeline for the CCCH to finish its investigation,” Cedo said in when reached by phone.

The MILF welcomed the order of Arroyo but could only hope that the CCCH can finish its investigation complete with report by Monday so that any move by the military on Tuesday will have basis.

“That’s a unilateral decision but she should have given a longer period,” MILF public information officer and chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said in a phone interview, noting that it would take time to for the CCCH probers to gather the facts and prepare a report.

But Iqbal said the action of Arroyo is in consonance to the MILF’s directive to their field commanders and fighters last Thursday to exercise maximum restraint and avoid provoking violence.

“The action of the President is towards the right direction. It’s a right direction,” he said.

Batara did not say if the decision of the President was in response to a proposal of retired general Rodolfo Garcia, the government peace negotiator with the MILF, for the AFP to put on hold its planned offensives in Basilan.

Garcia had earlier said that he raised the proposal to AFP chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. to give way for the fact-finding mission of the joint CCCH.

The six-member fact-finding team arrived in Basilan at around 8:40 am yesterday and immediately proceeded to Al-Barka to begin its probe, said provincial police director Sr. Supt. Alex Macapantar.

The team is set to find out the circumstances that led to the bloody exchange of fires, the killing of the 14 Marine soldiers and an Imam (a Moslem religious leader), and issues regarding possible violation of the ceasefire agreement of the government and the MILF. It is expected to issue recommendations as to how similar incidents can be prevented.

The government announced its planned punitive actions against selected MILF and ASG members last Saturday, saying that if the MILF does not surrender the alleged perpetrators to government authorities by Sunday, the offensives can start.

The MILF defied the AFP’s ultimatum, saying it was not involved in the mutilation of the 10 soldiers and the incident was a legitimate encounter, sparked by the government troops’ entry into an MILF territory without prior coordination.

The July 10 incident involved elements of the 1st Marine Brigade who had just finished checking the whereabouts of abducted Italian Catholic priest Fr. Gian Carlo Bossi when they came under fire upon reaching Barangay Guinanta in Al-Barka.

The MILF admitted to be those whom the AFP troops clashed with that day but denied the beheading.

According to the government, it has to punish those responsible for the death of the 14 soldiers, especially those mutilated, so the “barbaric act” will not be repeated in the future. But the MILF said that if ever they find some of their members to have violated the law, the agreement provides that it is the principal that can impose punishment, and not the other party.

In an earlier interview, MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the group will abide by the findings of the CCCH, but matters about the turn over of their erring members based on arrest warrants from Philippine courts will have to be discussed by both the government and MILF peace panels.

According to Batara, warrants of arrest were already issued against some suspected 130 personalities, mostly of the MILF and the rest of the ASG, by a court in Zamboanga City based on an information filed by the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC).

Batara said the case is separate from the multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder charges filed on Thursday by the Basilan Provincial Police at the Basilan Provincial Prosecutor’s Office over the same incident. An arrest warrant from the Basilan case has yet to be issued, said Macapantar.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Police Director Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao confirmed the issuance of the arrest warrant and explained that it cannot be served yet because of Arroyo’s order.

Among those identified in the charge sheet are: 1) Hamsa Sapantun, MILF chairman in Basilan; 2) Not Muddalan, alias Not, MILF commander; 3) Suhud Limaya, alias Hud, MILF commander; 4) Sulaiman Murata, MILF commander; 5) Hadji Dan Asnawi, alias Adan, MILF commander; 6) Long Hadji Mas-ud, MILF LC commander; 7) Furuji Indama, ASG leader; and, 8) Nurhasan Kallitut Jamiri, ASG leader.

Batara said that it was clearly agreed upon during the command conference that when the authorities is ready to serve the arrest warrants, the prime movers will be the Basilan police and they will be supported only by the AFP.

In a chance interview at Camp Aguinaldo yesterday, former President Corazon Aquino expressed sympathy to the family of the slain soldiers but supported the calling off of the operations in Basilan.

“That’s really so sad and I feel sorry for their families because they are only trying to do their best to rescue Fr. Bossi and they have to give up their lives. I hope this will be the last of such gruesome things,” Aquino said.

Aquino said that while it is also important to let the perpetrators realize that what they did was wrong, she is supporting the temporary suspension of the offensives until Monday “because violence begets violence.”

“I pray that all these violence will end, especially between Filipinos. It’s really very sad and painful to know that Filipinos are killing fellow Filipinos,” she said./DMS