No news is bad news

You only have to read the papers to realize the wisdom of the saying, "No news is good news." We must admit that it is depressing to read the newspapers. But in the case of the hostage problem in Basilan, we believe that no news is bad news. At the moment, the development people are looking forward to is either the recovery of the hostages or the capitulation of the Abu Sayyaf forces. Sad to say, there has been very little change in the situation even after Balikatan. First, we read about high-tech planes that could detect people even in the jungle. But instead, the result so far is that two airplanes have crashed and they were not even in combat. They were just on a routine flight. Now, we have even U.S. warships present in the area. But no one is even sure if the hostages are still in Basilan.

The Abu Sayyafs are plain bandits. That is a problem generally handled by the police. But the operation in Basilan is more like a war than a police operation. It is a war against terrorists, U.S. Circuit Judge Irving R. Kaufman made this relevant observation:

"Since medieval times, philosophers have recognized the distinction between jus ad bellum, the justice of war, and jus in bello, justice in war. Terrorism is more a civilian strategy that what we commonly call war, but the distinction remains meaningful in this arena as well. The moral reality of war is divided into two logically independent parts. We make judgments about the broader issues of agression and self-defense; but, employing a separate calculus, we make judgments about the observance or violation of the customary and positive rules of engagement. By the same token, we must keep distinct our feelings about the terrorist’s cause, on the one hand, and the illegitimate means that he uses to advance that cause, on the other. Simply put, the random murder of innocent people is always terrorism, even when it is perpetrated by representatives of the most oppressed peoples on the face of the Earth."

Again sad to say, the general impression that many people abroad have on the current peace and order situation in the country today is based on the Abu Sayyaf reports. They have totally ruined our good image abroad. The truth is that the Abu Sayyafs are operating in a very limited and isolated area. Mindanao itself is generally very peaceful. The impression that the Abu Sayyafs are operating not only nationwide but also overseas is based solely on the fact that their first victims were from Malaysia and later they got more hostages from tourist resorts in Mindanao and Palawan.

There was a time when our Armed Forces had the entire Abu Sayyaf forces surrounded in a hospital. For a still unexplained reason, they were all granted safe passage out. And this was captured in TV.

They say that one person’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. The truth is that one person’s terrorist is everyone’s terrorist.