TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol – The military will deploy three battalions of Army engineers to the troubled provinces of Basilan and Sulu this week to complement ongoing military operations against the Abu Sayyaf.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said the deployment of some 1,500 Army engineers is meant to complement the humanitarian aspect of the military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf bandits to improve and repair infrastructure projects in the two provinces.
“They (Army engineers) have been given alert orders. Their mission is more on development, civil-military operations as part of the humanitarian invasion that the President wants,” Esperon said.
He said one battalion will be sent to Basilan to finish the circumferential road and the two remaining battalions of Army engineers will be sent to Sulu to finish the construction of farm-to-market roads.
Esperon said the Army engineers have been trained to do their job even in adverse combat conditions.
“They can go hand in hand. We can undertake these things (civil-military operations) even during operations against the Abu Sayyaf, after all the fighting is confined just (to) the hinterlands. We intend to do the construction work,” he said.
Esperon said the engineers will be tasked to build and repair roads, health centers and schools in the two war-torn provinces.
Esperon also announced President Arroyo has given the order to step up the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf.
“I have standing orders to hit every confirmed (location). The Abu Sayyaf will be dealt with as fast as we can, as decisively as we can,” Esperon told reporters a day after President Arroyo visited frontline troops on Basilan.
The government has massed 17 battalions of Marines and infantry on Basilan and Jolo to hunt down and destroy the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf.
Esperon said the ongoing military action in Basilan and Sulu is being guided by intelligence estimates pinpointing the locations of the bandit group.
“More or less, we will be hitting every now and then. We are keeping close watch of developments,” he said.
“Abangan na lang ninyo (just wait),” he said.
Esperon stressed the possibility of more bloody encounters with the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu and Basilan as the offensive drags on.
“Expect some encounters shortly whether it is in Sulu or Basilan. We will apply the full force of our large presence in the two islands if only to see an early neutralization of the Abu Sayyaf,” he said.
Although the Abu Sayyaf only number about 58 in Basilan and about 120 in Jolo according to Esperon’s estimates, the campaign so far has inflicted some of the worst battlefield casualties on the military in recent years with scores of soldiers killed and wounded.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is observing a ceasefire with the government, and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which signed a peace treaty in 1996, have rejected allegations they were aiding the Abu Sayyaf.
Esperon said the large military presence, estimated at more than 10,000 soldiers, enabled the government to quarantine and enforce a total gun ban on the two provinces.
He said the campaign aims to “put off balance” the Abu Sayyaf so its forces will not be able to launch any terrorist activities, and give way to the second phase of the operations which will focus on infrastructure development.
Isolated
So far, the efforts of the military to contain the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan is paying off, according to Basilan Vice Governor Al-Rasheid Sakalahul.
Sakalahul, chairman of the Joint Monitoring Action Group said the efforts of the MILF to relocate its forces from the theater of military operations left the Abu Sayyaf in the open.
Sakalahul said the repositioning of the MILF forces out of the area of military operations will also erase doubts the group is aiding the Abu Sayyaf.
He said families of the MILF guerrillas were also sent to the evacuation centers where relief will be extended.
Sakalahul said there will be no mistake or mis-encounter with the military this time since the MILF has completed its roster of combatants in the area.
“The civilians are also helping. They are no longer happy with what these people (Abu Sayyaf) are doing. Even the MILF are helping,” Sakalahul added.
On the other hand, First Marine Brigade commander Col. Rustico Guerrero said their forces are already poised to strike in the areas where the Abu Sayyaf fled following last Saturday’s fierce encounter which left 42 bandits killed.
Col. Noel Coballes, commander of the Army’s 105th Brigade, said Army Special Forces and Scout Rangers are also poised to strike once the exact location of the Abu Sayyaf militants will be pinpointed.
“If not for the terrain the military would already have gotten these people,” Sakalahul said.
Basilan provincial police director Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar said police forces have been placed on alert and are ready to arrest any of the Abu Sayyaf extremists who might escape from the military offensive.
Meanwhile, government ceasefire head Brig. Gen. Ernesto Gurrea said there was already a motion for reinvestigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the 130 suspects behind the ambush and the subsequent mutilation and beheading of the 10 Marines last July 10.
Gurrea said the MILF have already identified 61 of their combatants who participated in the encounter.
“The 61 combatants were MILF who participated in the encounter but not the beheading,” Gurrea said.
He clarified the MILF guerrillas involved in the July 10 attack will be subjected to ceasefire rules.
Gurrea said the list of 61 MILF combatants had been forwarded to the DOJ and will be evaluated with the list of 130 suspects charged earlier in the ambush and beheading.
Gurrea said three other names will be included in the charges.
Local officials of Basilan also sought the reinvestigation of the incident, pointing out some of the names in the charge sheet were mistakenly included.
Sakalahul said they are now working with the local police to clear the names of the suspects and their custody pending the reinvestigation. – With Roel Pareño, Edu Punay, James Mananghaya, Marvin Sy, Michael Punongbayan, AFP