Escudero wants 'real score' on gov't offensive in Mindanao

Opposition senator Francis Escudero blasted the Arroyo administration Monday, demanding an accounting on the on-going military offensive in Basilan and Sulu.

The military stepped up its retaliatory offensive yesterday by killing several Abu Sayyaf militants, including two of the suspects behind the beheading of soldiers last month.

Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo said troops overran an Abu Sayyaf training camp in the mountain village of Silangkum here where bodies of several Abu Sayyaf gunmen were found.

In reaction, Escudero said, "With the loss of many lives and displacement of thousands of civilians in the on-going conflict in Mindanao, the administration better make sure that this will lead to tangible and lasting results."

" I am sick and tired of the same old story being peddled by the administration many times over that they have 'finally licked and put an end to the Abu Sayyaf and other lawless elements' only for the same old problem to resurrect over and over again," he said.

He noted the administration should stop peddling lies and tell the people the 'real score.'

"They should find long lasting and permanent solutions to the problem in Mindanao and not band-aid solutions," the lawmaker warned.

Likewise, he said the administration should sack incompetent and disloyal officers, should there be any, and they should take extra care not to affect so much the lives and convenience of civilians caught in the crossfire.