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By Al Jacinto, Correspondent
ZAMBOANGA CITY: Philippine troops on Friday
resumed shelling suspected strongholds of Abu Sayyaf rebels on Sulu
island, where security forces, backed by US military intelligence,
are hunting down bandits tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah.
The extremists had kidnapped a television news
crew and a college professor, who were released after ransom was
paid.
Aid workers on Friday said they expect an exodus
of civilians from different villages in Sulu after security forces
unleashed a barrage of artillery fire on Abu Sayyaf targets late
Thursday.
President Gloria Arroyo on June 18, or a day
after the release of Cecilia “Ces” Oreña-Drilon and her
cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama and university
professor Octavio Dinampo, ordered an all-out offensive against the
Abu Sayyaf in Sulu in southern Mindanao. At least 3,000 Filipino
troops, backed by US military intelligence, are pursuing about
three-dozen militants involved in the kidnapping.
At the height of the hostage crisis, the
military also shelled suspected Abu Sayyaf strongholds in Indanan
town at dawn of June 15, but five civilians were wounded in the
attack and more than 200 families fled their homes, police said.
Bishops upset
Friday’s renewed shelling was scored by
another Roman Catholic bishop, Broderick Pabillo, who said the
military offensive in Sulu shows the government’s lack of effort
in finding a long-term solution to the decades-old Muslim rebellion
in southern Mindanao.
“This [bombarding] is a short-term solution to
the problem [of insurgency],” Pabillo said during a press
conference in Intramuros, Manila. He is the chairman of the National
Secretariat for Social Action for Justice and Peace, the social
action arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
The bishop added that continued presence of
rebels in Sulu and the recent kidnapping of the television news crew
and Dinampo clearly show lack of governance.
“Lack of governance in the province,
marginalization of the peace process and [now] even the mayor
[Alvarez Isnaji] is now a suspect in the kidnapping,” Pabillo
said.
The bishop added that the church hopes that the
government would pour in more development projects and help in the
governance to ensure a peaceful solution to social and political
problems in Mindanao.
ABS-CBN should apologize
The TV crew was detained by followers of a
senior Abu Sayyaf leader, Radullan Sahiron, whom it wanted to
interview after he allegedly sent surrender feelers to the
government.
Police implicated Abu Sayyaf leaders Albader
Parad, Gafur Jumdail, Umbra Jumdail, Tuan Walis and Sulayman Patta
as among about 30 gunmen who held Drilon’s group.
Gov. Abdusakur Tan of Sulu said the kidnapping
crisis severely affected the province and demanded that ABS-CBN
publicly apologize to the people for allegedly besmirching Sulu’s
image because of the incident.
-- With Anthony Vargas
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