Did they get the right Zulkifli?

The real name of Marwan is Zulkifli bin Hir. He is the infamous alleged Malaysian master bomb maker whose death is now being made to justify the loss of SAF 44 lives. There is another Malaysian named Zulkifli Marzuki. He was Jemaah Islamiyah’s secretary and a close associate of Hambali—today the only Indonesian in Guantánamo prison.

According to an academic paper prepared by the Indonesian-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), there may have been a confusion of Zulkiflis. The authors of the report confessed that they “themselves confused the two Zulkiflis in a 2003 report for the International Crisis Group where they referred to him inaccurately as a senior JI operative. The report was later corrected.”

The writers of the academic report claim to have examined “the facts of Marwan’s life and the role he played in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. In addition to using documentary sources, IPAC interviewed five Indonesians who knew Marwan in Indonesia and/or the Philippines…”

The academic paper went on to report that Marwan “had no special bomb-making skills; those he had were in sharp-shooting. A tendency to panic in crisis situations made him unwanted in battle. He was never a member of the once-feared terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), though he had been radicalized by its Malaysia-based members and occasionally worked with them… Some of the background attributed to Marwan may refer to this other Zulkifli”

Indeed, it was said Marwan’s “knowledge of explosives almost nil. When his friends in Pawas were learning bomb construction, Marwan often stayed in his house. He told his friends the bombs scared him. He did not take part very often in weapons training either because he was already relatively skilled. He spent much of his time surfing the Internet with his laptop. The camp had a generator, so there was no problem with electricity.”

This is how the academic paper explained Marwan’s bigger than life reputation as an important terrorist: “the simple fact of his ability to evade capture for so long—the more times he was declared dead and then proved to be alive, the more dangerous he seemed to become…”

The IPAC paper also pointed out “there may have been an institutional factor at work: the more fearsome his reputation, the more Philippine authorities and their US allies may have believed that extraordinary measures were required to deal with him.”

What exactly is IPAC and who are the academicians behind it who wrote this paper on Marwan? According to sociologist Randy David in his column last week, it was his “first time to encounter IPAC’s work, but I know some of the people on its board—like the prominent human rights lawyer Mulya Lubis.

“The institute is headed by Sidney Jones, who has done solid scholarship on Southeast Asia for the International Crisis Group and was herself at one time the director for Asia of Human Rights Watch. Founded in 2013, IPAC operates ‘on the principle that accurate analysis is a critical first step toward preventing violent conflict.’”

Randy wrote that while “we should not take the entire report as gospel truth, we cannot dismiss it either as pure hearsay. The conclusions it draws have a profound bearing on prevailing attitudes toward the MILF, and on the government’s effort to balance its counterterrorism policy with its quest for a peaceful and just resolution of armed conflicts.”

Indeed, IPAC says “Marwan’s career shows clearly how MILF leaders rejected the presence of foreign jihadis and tried to ban any activities that could threaten negotiations. They were not always successful and there were occasionally rogue commanders who provided refuge and other forms of support, but the message was clear that terrorists were not welcome.”

As shown from excerpts from the IPAC article, titled “Killing Marwan in Mindanao,” there are reasonable doubts about certain claims on Marwan’s presumed leading role in the foreign terrorist network in Mindanao. The doubts were expressed in interviews IPAC researchers did of people who knew and saw Marwan up close.  

For instance, P-Noy described Marwan as a high value target of the SAF’s ill-fated mission: “Marwan is part of the Central Committee of the Jemaah Islamiyah, which was responsible for the Bali bombing in Indonesia.” IPAC says that, in fact, Marwan was never a member of Jemaah Islamiyah, nor was he in Bali at the time of the October 2002 Bali bombing. He was then already living in Mindanao.

Dismissed SAF chief Getulio Napeñas called Marwan “the most notorious bomb expert not just here in Southeast Asia but in the entire world.” Marwan’s Indonesian associates, according to the academic paper, laugh at this exaggeration. According to the academic paper, “One of his Indonesian associates, who worked with Marwan in Mindanao from 2003 to 2009, called him ‘a little snake who has been blown up into a dragon.’”

If the claims of this academic paper are accurate, there would be a new meaning to P-Noy’s complaint that “The truth is I was given the wrong information by the people who most knew what was happening.” He may have been given the wrong information on the man they call Marwan and his supposed high value status as a terrorist. Baka nabola din siya about Marwan being a high value target.

That would give this whole Mamasapano mess a real turn for the worse. While it does not erase the heroism of the SAF 44 men, it implies that they died for nothing. It implies that high government officials from P-Noy to suspended PNP Chief Alan Purisima have been negligent in verifying intelligence information and not just in carrying out the operation. Negligence implies they didn’t give too much value on the lives of their men.

P-Noy must now bear the pain of having ordered an operation to catch a supposedly high valued terrorist who may not have been that high valued at all. P-Noy and his police officers may have goofed big time. No wonder they are going through some contortions trying to wash their hands off the stench.

Those who want to read the entire academic report may follow this link:  http://file.understandingconflict.org/file/2015/03/IPAC_17_Killing_Marwan_in_Mindanao.pdf

Reading the paper makes you feel that just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, it just did.

Na bola si P-Noy

I am sure P-Noy didn’t consult his communications team when he said “nabola ako ni Napenas.” I know Sonny Coloma and I am sure he knows his business. Sonny and I together with Ben Milano, co-founded the Philippine Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) in the early 80s. P-Noy admitted his stupidity to fall for a “bola” all by himself.

Of course I get the feeling P-Noy said that because he thought it was better to appear stupid or gullible than culpable. He was trying to wash his hands, shield General Purisima and throw Napenas under the bus. But culpability is difficult to wash away. Just ask Pontius Pilate.

There would have been an easier way but it is too late for that now. If P-Noy said from the start that as President he accepts command responsibility… that would have covered all the mistakes and people would have respected him for showing leadership. Now, all he had accomplished speech after speech is to look like a hopeless (b)lame duck President.

P-Noy did the country a great disservice.

OFW teachers

Now for some good news… Bro Armin, the DepEd Secretary, told me last Tuesday evening that they have a program to attract back some teachers who gave up teaching to become domestic workers in Hong Kong because of the pay. Some have come back and have been retrained by DepEd now that the pay scales for teachers are more competitive.

Bro Armin said they need a lot of teachers for the K-12 program. It is also good to get backs former teachers now working as domestics in Hong Kong, to be with their families at home.

Speaking of K-12 preparations, Bro Armin also allayed fears of some college teachers that they would be rendered jobless with the implementation of K-12. Bro Armin said they have more than enough jobs for teachers under the program to teach senior high school subjects which are more or less the same as the first two years of college subjects.

But many the teachers do not want to lose their status and the right to be called college professors and become just high school teachers. So it may just be an ego thing because, Bro Armin said, they have the jobs for them and also upgraded salary scales.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco