Army exec accuses MILF of treachery

MANILA, Philippines - The encounter in Al-Barka, Basilan, where 19 soldiers were killed, was a result of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's (MILF) treachery, a sacked Philippine Army official said today.

"There was treachery on the part of the MILF," Col. Alexander Macario, the sacked commander of the Special Operations Task Force Basilan, said in a radio interview this afternoon.

Macario said that an intelligence officer of the Philippine Army's 4th Special Force Battalion (SFB) informed the MILF through its liaison, Ustadz Salim Panawayon, that their troops will conduct an operation in Sitio Bakisung, Barangay Cugman.

He said that the intelligence officer of the 4TH SFB made the call to Panawayon the night before the actual operation, which was conducted on October 18.

He said Panawayon is an adviser to an MILF base commander he identified as Hudlim Maya.

Macario said that it may be the "critical point" that led to the massacre of the 19 soldiers led by 2nd Lt. Jose Delfin Keh, who also died in the clash.

He said that during the initial clash, Keh's group radioed that they were engaged in a firefight with only eight armed men, believed to be members of the group of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Long Malat.

"Ang feedback ay mahina ang kalaban, walo lang. And then later on biglang dumami na parang naging 200 in a span of several hours," Macario said, adding that the 200 men reinforcement was sent by the MILF base command covering the Al-Barka area.

Macario suspects that instead of holding off MILF fighters in the area, the base commander of the Moro separatist group informed about the military operation ordered his men to reinforce the group of Malat.

The sacked Army official also insisted that his troops in Basilan have always been very careful in military operations as they did not want to violate the government's ceasefire agreement with the MILF.

He said that they were not required to inform the MILF of the Al-Barka operation, but decided otherwise to make sure that there will be no misencounter with the Moro rebels in the area.

Macario maintained that the troops were four kilometers away from the area of temporary stay (ATS) of the MILF. The ATS is a designated area where the MILF can stay to avoid a misencounter with the military.

To make sure that troops will not unknowingly enter the ATS of the MILF, Macario said that he ordered an additional 500 meters to the MILF's ATS and even declared, on his own, that the area above the ATS is a "no-fly zone" for military aircrafts.

Misinformed

Meanwhile, Macario admitted that the troops in Al-Barka that clashed with the rebels were undermanned, under-equipped and were not prepared for a heavy battle when they went to Sitio Bakisung.

He said that this was because he was not properly informed by Peña about the type of operation that the troops will be conducting.

Macario said that two days before the actual operation, Peña asked for permission to conduct an "regular, routinary, clearing operation" in the area.

He said he approved the operation since a regular operation did not require permissions from the military's general headquarters.

"The planning will be done at battalion level," he said.

Macario said that after the bloody clash, he learned that Peña ordered a test mission, which requires intensive planning and heavy artillery support.

"’Pag test mission kasi iba ang category  ng operations. ‘Pag test mission, if only I was informed that it was a test mission, I would not have approved it," he said.

"It requires certain procedures that should be followed strictly," he said, adding that during test missions, a military team conducting the operation would need air support, armor artillery and should have been fully equipped.

He added that the subject area in a test mission also requires at least two months of developing, including intelligence gathering for more detailed information of the occupants of the area.

Macario also said that in test missions, the task force commander should supervise the operation, not the battalion commander.

Macario, meanwhile, declined to confirm that his revelations have been considered in the report that the Armed Forces of the Philippines will submit to Malacañang.

He also said that he has yet to have a conversation with Peña regarding the operation.

Peña was relieved a day after the Al-Barka attack. A third official, Army spokesman Col. Antonio Parlade, was also sacked for his proposal to suspend the ceasefire agreement with the MILF to allow troops to pursue those responsible in the 19 soldiers’ killing.-- Angelo L. Gutierrez