Monday, February 02, 2015

MILF, BIFF, PNP and the Fallen 44

This is a continuation of my article yesterday, MILF, Fallen 44 and Rule of Law. I am posting some comments of my friends in my fb wall  on  the subject, and my discussion and rejoinders to them.
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1.  Bakit nga nung I ambush mga SAF andun naman pareho ang MILF and BIFF...?  Ano pinag kaiba nila?

It  was not an ambush. 392 special action force (SAF) officers, there are strike teams and blocking teams. They flew from Manila to Maguindanao armed to the teeth, ready to kill and be killed. It was a clear firefight but the terrain is something the policemen are not familiar with. A corn field which the Fallen 44 ran to may have hidden canals behind them.

I ask again, Supposed there was no or minimal death among SAF officers, does it make that huge operation without coordination with the AFP and MILF justified?

For me, a Yes answer to that question is a suggestion that the PH government should officially discard the peace agreement. Then PH government, whether through the AFP or PNP or NBI, can enter anytime anywhere, in huge numbers with full armaments, with zero recognition of the political, administrative and police/military jurisdiction of the MILF as stipulated in the peace agreement.

Is this the scenario that the pro-war people want?


2.  “they mutilated the bodies of the dead SAF".

Prof. Bong Mallonga Mendoza has an answer to that when he wrote, "a human body hit by either a 0.50 caliber or a special Barrett 413 bullet will be mutilated. No need to mutilate the same bodies after they died."

3. kailan naging territory ng MILF /BIFF ang area na hindi puede pasukin ng law enforcers without asking their permission?

I think Mamasapano, Maguindanao, is not a territory of MILF. It has no territorial jurisdiction, it is still under the PH state. What the MILF has under the peace agreement, is political and administrative jurisdiction. Thus, the public education, public health facilities, police forces, autonomous legislative body, etc. in areas under the peace agreement are with the MILF.

That is why for such huge operations involving nearly 400 PNP special force, with dozens of trucks and APCs, I think an official coordination with MILF and AFP is needed, if we want the peace agreement to be respected. Otherwise, kanya-kanya na lang, throw away the peace agreement, PH armed forces can enter anytime, anywhere, in areas supposedly covered by the peace agreement.

4. Painful as it is to say this to what our Fallen44 went through, I'm leaning on pursuing this peace agreement with these rebels for the last time and give peace a chance in the region.

Precisely. Five or 6 decades of war in Mindanao is not enough? Some people want 1 or 2 decades or more of war in the south?

Since there is already an existing peace agreement with the MILF, an international agreement actually as the meetings and place of signing were held in Kuala Lumpur, witnessed by many foreign government representatives, the PH govt should have respected it. Learn to respect the MILF's political and admis jurisdiction there.

Enough of war. Enough of double talk of talking peace while pursuing war and unilateral attacks.

5. the bloodshed and the encounters could have been avoided if they were sincere in seeking peace and arrested the terrorists themselves kaso di nila ginawa e.

The wanted terrorists are said to  be in the BIFF-controlled area. Perhaps the MILF can storm it but it would take huge amount of bloodshed as they do  not  have choppers, fighter planes, tanks, other equipment. An ideal scenario  is PNP + AFP + MILF. But the PNP-SAF implied, “we  can do  it on  our own, no  need for AFP or  MILF. No coordination or  information  sharing with them needed.”

So, sino ba nagsimula ng barilan last January 25? The MILF or BIFF stormed Cotabato or Davao or Manila? No. It was the PH govt’s PNP that stormed a village in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, 392 elite forces. No coordination even with the AFP. The PNP only cried for help when their smaller blocking team was trapped until they run out of ammo to fight back.

Here's a good food for thought:

'The source said there had been no encounter between the Army and the MILF since 2010, “which means the MILF is faithful to the peace agreement.”

No encounter between MILF and AFP for the past 5 years, from 2010, entering the 6th year this year. Peace is possible. No shooting coming from the MILF or from the AFP.

Now enters the SAF. To get Marwan and the $6M or so bounty from the US government, to enforce the rule of law, to make the planet safer, what have you. And shooting has resumed.

6. "How can peace be possible with a group that coddles terrorists"

Five years of no shooting was not peace? It was 5 years of war? Weird.
"coddles terrorists" is a hypothesis. The same way that a statement, "AFP and PNP coddling coup plotters and thieves in their ranks", "Congress coddling plunderers" are also hypothesis, possibly verified theories.

The MNLF has burned bridges with the PH govt a long time ago, they can rampage anytime and they feel they are not breaking any existing peace agreement.

7. That treacherous attack by the SAF, knowing that there was a ceasefire in place, was very wrong...it sabotaged the peace process.

Yes, I agree with this assessment. Confidence building requires building trust with the people you signed officially with to have peace, to stop the shooting from  both sides. For me there  is treachery on the part of  the PNP leadership, or a faction of its leadership, that puts a big dent, big distrust, on the peace agreement.
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