Troops hunt down 2 likely successors of Pentagon chief

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — The Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID) fielded over a hundred intelligence agents in neighboring Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao provinces yesterday to track down two likely successors of slain Pentagon kidnap gang leader Tahir Alonto.

These followers of Alonto — Samad Pandita and Mayangkang Saguile — each carry a P1-million bounty for their capture.

Meanwhile, defense and military officials are coordinating with the families of the slain gangmen to ascertain that Alonto was indeed one of those killed in the airstrikes.

Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita said any exhumation of bodies must first have the permission of the family of the dead so as not to insult Muslim tradition.

Maj. Franklin del Prado, 6th ID’s civil-military relations officer, said their new commander, Maj. Gen. Raul Relano, ordered all units of the division in the two provinces to immediately "neutralize" Pandita and Saguile if found.

In separate statements, North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Piñol and Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan both offered to shell out "earnest money" in exchange for any information that would lead to the arrest of Pandita, Saguile and Alonto’s other remaining key followers.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) spokesman Eid Kabalu confirmed that Alonto was indeed one of those killed in the military’s bombardment of his hideout on the border of Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat and Sultan sa Barongis in Maguindanao Friday.

Del Prado said prominent Muslim religious leaders in the two towns provided the 6th ID and the 604th Brigade with information on the whereabouts of Alonto and his followers, resulting in the successful operation against them.

He said intelligence units of the 604th and 601st Brigades have been deployed in towns frequented by Alonto’s remaining followers.

"We are optimistic that, with the help of local officials, and religious leaders in these towns, our operatives can find and neutralize (Alonto’s followers)," Del Prado said.

Ermita for his part said, "I suppose if arrangements can be made, if it’s really okay for the bodies to be exhumed to determine whether Tahir Alonto is one of them ... that is something that we have to arrange on the ground."

Ermita’s statement came after several sectors contended that Tahir Alonto’s death could have been staged in order to ease the military pressure on the Pentagon gang.

He said the military values Muslim tradition and it doesn’t want to be charged with desecrating the dead. Muslims bury their dead within 24 hours.

On the other hand, Maj. Gen. Edilberto Adan, AFP spokesman, claimed that ground troops are now gathering more evidence to bolster military reports that Alonto was killed in the airstrikes Friday on the Liguasan Marsh.

But Adan admitted that efforts to recover Alonto’s body were being hampered by the complex terrain of the marshlands.

For now, he said the military is only basing its statement that Alonto was killed on outside information and civilian assets.

"We are taking steps to get more evidence by looking for his body so it’s taking time because it’s in an isolated part of Liguasan Marsh," Adan said.–with Jaime Laude