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ON July 2, a former senator who once ran as a Green candidate for
president in Colombia, Ingrid Betancourt, and 14 other hostages were
freed from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The
rescue, which was shown in all its real-life drama on TV channels
all over the world, is hailed as a daring and effective operation
carried out by Colombian military commandos. The Colombian security
forces tricked the FARC into believing they were a leftist
non-governmental organization.
For the first time in six years of captivity in
Colombia’s jungles, Betancourt breathed the air of freedom again.
She and her fellow hostages—three Americans and 11 Colombians—
are now happily reunited with their families.
Íngrid Betancourt Pulecio, born December 25,
1961, is a dual French-Colombian citizen. She is an anti-corruption
activist, glad and proud to be a Roman Catholic. She was kidnapped
by the FARC on February 23, 2002. The French government helped in
getting her and her fellow kidnap victims freed.
Their rescue had all the elements of a gripping
espionage movie: the ruse, the derring-do, the surprise attack and
the triumphant ending.
The Columbian army, which mounted the bloodless
Operation Jaque, had used the most sophisticated spying technology,
with some help from the United States, to infiltrate the highest
levels of the FARC leadership. They wore Che Guevera T-shirts and
masqueraded as guerrillas themselves.
Having penetrated the FARC’s channels of
communication, they “falsified” orders of the organization’s
“secretariat” to bring three separate groups of hostages (which
actually consisted of Betancourt and her 14 companions) to a waiting
helicopter for their purported presentation to the new FARC leader,
Alfonso Cano.
Once on board the helicopter, the commandos
overpowered the rebel guards, identified themselves as soldiers to
the hostages, removed their handcuffs and told them they were now
free. It was a classic rescue for the 15 hostages, especially for
Betancourt who admitted that there were times that she had almost
lost the will to live, though she had to keep her spirits high for
the sake of her husband and children. No ransom was ever paid.
AFP commando unit
Had the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
ever thought and prepared for the same covert rescue operation in
the case of ABS-CBN journalist Ces Drilon, her two cameramen and a
university professor who were kidnapped recently by the Abu Sayyaf?
Or in the other kidnapping cases perpetrated by the bandit gang?
Drilon and her three companions were released
but after paying ransom of P5 million—and possibly P15 million
more. This was the case also of the other hostages held by the Abu
Sayyaf months earlier—they, too, paid ransom for their release. In
one instance, an American captive was beheaded by the kidnappers.
The AFP may have had the resolve to rescue
the kidnap victims by a covert operation like Colombia’s. But it
simply lacked the initiative, creativity, resourcefulness and
equipment to carry out one.
It is hard to believe that the Abu Sayyaf,
which counts with only a few hundred men, has been running rings
around the AFP for many years now. We have invested thousands of
lives and billions of pesos in the war against this terrorist group
but with no success.
It’s not too late for the AFP to create a
commando unit, armed with the latest in weaponry and spying
technology and trained for quick and destructive raids on
terrorists’ territory. This is a worthy project about which the
government cannot afford to be parsimonious.
Our soldiers are never lacking in courage and
patriotism, but they must be given all the necessary moral and
logistical support to carry out their mandate of protecting the
people.
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