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[This column should have come out on Sunday August 19.]
Fruit season in Sulu started last month.
We do not have commercial fruit orchards but durian, mangosteen,
marang, lanzones and rambutan abound. Each Tausug farmer would
have several trees growing on his plot, many planted by his father
and grandfather. Bats have helped, too, eating rambutan and
dropping the seeds all over Jolo Island. Thus, sweet fruit
abound even in the “gimba” or forest where the terrorist are
supposed to be hiding.
Farmers rely on the harvest of their fruit trees
to augment farm income from coconut, coffee, cassava and rice.
Fruit season is so important to the Tausug farmer that they have
requested a ceasefire to allow them to harvest. The military
did permit the harvest. But that was before the tragic
ambuscade and encounters. What happens now to the Tausug
farmer and his family?
The government has stepped up its offensive
against the Abu Sayyaf and “renegade” MNLF. Hundreds of
additional troops have been deployed to Jolo, where the fighting has
resulted in over 50 killed, half of then Philippine soldiers. With
the tension at extremely high levels, how can the harvest proceed?
As our Tausug farmers attempt to harvest their
fruit, I cannot help but think about the harvest of human lives. The
Human Rights Watch Report last month states that more civilians have
been injured or killed in the armed hostilities in the Philippines
than in Bali, Morocco, Spain, Turkey or Britain over the last 7
years. This is in addition to the kidnappings which have extorted
huge amounts of ransoms from innocent civilians. We are aghast at
the magnitude of the casualties of the bombings abroad but we seem
to have become immune to the harvest of local human lives. Will the
bombings end with another military offensive?
Malacañang has issued yet another deadline to
the military to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf and the renegades in Jolo
and Basilan. I don’t get it. The media has reported about
the victories of military operations against terrorism, the
successes of continuing Balikatan operations which started in 2002,
the huge rewards offered for the heads of the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah
Islamiah leaders. Repeatedly, we are told that the Abu Sayyaf is on
the run, decimated, leaderless, headless chickens.
But each time a military debacle happens, such
as the killings of Philippine soldiers in Basilan and in Jolo, the
Abu Sayyaf is to blame. Lady, the terrorists cannot be decimated one
day and be resurrected to kill 10, 14, 25 troops another day.
Perhaps the bats have helped propagate not just rambutan but
terrorists, too? Either the bats are responsible or we are
being dosed with truly inutile intelligence reports, lulling all who
believe such reports into a false state of security . . . until the
next encounter.
I have repeatedly advocated the importance of
strengthening our local police and local government leaders,
especially those who operate at the barangay level. They are the
government’s eyes and ears in the areas of conflict. Why
then are the military—who are outsiders—the primary recipients
of training, technology and logistical support? How about the local
police and LGUs?
Mrs. President, if you really want peace and
stability in Mindanao, effective civilian institutions and authority
are required. Rule of law, not military dominion, is
essential. First, tend to the local government leaders.
Since over 90 percent of the winning officials are members of your
Lakas or Kampi parties, it is your official and personal
responsibility to make them function. After all, you supported
them. Second, the police. They are under-trained, ill equipped and
under-manned. Even if the police were strong, where would they bring
evidence and who would enforce it? Third, a well-functioning justice
system including prison administration, police reform, and human
rights protection are essential. Unfortunately, the administration
of justice in conflict-affected Mindanao is weak. And getting
weaker.
Mrs. President, you have said “The military
offensive against the Abu Sayyaf must continue, not as an act of
vengeance but as a strategy to win the peace.” Military offensives
do not win the peace.
You ought to follow the example of your white
knight, former President Fidel V. Ramos, who put his faith in peace
processes and development. You wonder how the numbers of the ASG and
renegades magically increase each time the military suffers a
defeat? Your war, with its harvest of human lives and resultant
collateral damage, is pushing the neutral local citizens into the
arms of the “renegades” you pursue.
Perhaps I am wrong after all: the bats are not
to blame.
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