City council asked to shed light on Senate probe on Zambo siege

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - The Senate has invited the city council here for an inquiry on Thursday to help shed light the bloody siege staged by the members of the Nur Misuari faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in September, an official said.

Councilor Benjamin Guingona IV said inquiry will be conducted by the Senate’s joint committee on national defense and security, and committee on peace and reconciliation.

“The inquiry aims to find out the motive of the attack to prevent similar occurrence of similar attack in the future,” Guingona said.

The Senate inquiry will be held following a resolution filed by Councilor Rommel Agan asking the senate to conduct inquiry on the three-week attack launched by the MNLF group under Misuari.

The attack that began September 9 claimed 244 lives, displaced 118, 819 people, burned 10, 160 houses and devastated structures in at least five barangays, including Mariki, Rio Hondo, Sta. Barbara, Sta. Catalina and partly Talon-Talon, which are all situated near the city government center and commercial district.

Government security forces have captured close to 300 MNLF followers who joined the siege but Misuari, whom authorities tagged to have masterminded the attack although he was not present at the scene of the siege, has remained at large.

The captured rebels have been relocated to Bicutan Jail from this city for security reasons.

Authorities have sued Misuari and  others with charges such as rebellion to violation of international humanitarian law, genocide and crimes against humanity.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, who acted on the request, sought a probe to prevent similar violent attack in the future since it was the second time the MNLF Misuari faction staged  a similar attack. The first attempt was the Cabatangan siege in November 2001 in this city.

The senate was also acting on the reports and disclosures that MNLF gunmen under Misuari had established their footing unnoticed in this city since January 2013, stocking weapons and ammunition and were expecting reinforcement to overwhelm the government forces.

“Hopefully, there will be revelation that will ferret out the truth about the siege and will help the senate enact law that will prevent similar incident to happen,” according to Guingona, who was then supervising the stress and trauma debriefing of dozens of civilian hostages that were rescued at the height of conflict.

The city is still assisting hundreds of displaced families in the different evacuation centers, including the sports complex here that housed the bulk of the evacuees while hundreds more families have been relocated to different bunkhouses while the city government has been working on the implementation of the P3.4-billion rehabilitation program approved by President Benigno Aquino III to build back a better Zamboanga. - Roel Pareño