Angry SOUTHCOM chief signals Sulu war far from over
By BONG GARCIA, JR.
TODAY Correspondent
ZAMBOANGA CITY - Hopes of quickly ending the fighting in Sulu appeared dim Thursday, with Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza saying, “As of this time, it’s surrender or nothing. I will continue our offensive. There will be no let-up. What they started, I will finish.”
He was referring to the fighting in the hinterlands of Panamao and Parang towns with a combined force of the Abu Sayyaf and Misuari armed allies numbering about 800, which attacked an Army detachment.
Braganza was led to sternly warn the bandits after Lt. Col. Dennis Villanueva died on Thursday of his wounds suffered in the fighting.
Villanueva was the commander of the 53rd Infantry Battalion and had been evacuated from Panamao town to the Asturias Hospital in barangay Busbos, Jolo, Sulu.
In Manila, meanwhile, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita hedged in admitting that the military made a mistake in pursuing an Abu Sayyaf bandit that led to the killing of three persons who are members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
“If I am not mistaken, last Saturday or Sunday, there was one Misuari breakaway group member who was killed as a suspected Abu Sayyaf member,” Ermita said. He added that the wife and a child unrelated to the victims were also killed. This led the MNLF to retaliate over the weekend, ambushing government forces in Patikul, Sulu.
Braganza visited Sulu on Thursday to oversee the ongoing offensive and met with provincial crisis management committee chairman Gov. Benjamin Loong. The crisis management committee was organized to see the plight of the civilians displaced by the fighting.
He said the rebels had asked for a cease-fire after the arrival of more troops in Sulu, where at least six battalions are now deployed to run after the 800-man force of the bandits and Misuari allies.
Latest reports show 25 soldiers had been killed and 30 others wounded, while the bandit side suffered 30 killed and an undetermined number of wounded.
Gov. Parouk Hussin of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) called for the speedy trial for rebellion of former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari, whose detention was the excuse given by the bandits and his allies for attacking an Army post.
Speaking at Thursday’s ARMM Health Summit in Pasay City, Hussin said, “Until now there is no serious trial of Misuari. Further delays will just ignite more protests from [his] group.”
He added, “I’m appealing to both sides to exercise maximum caution and compassion since many of the victims are innocent ones.”
In Zamboanga City, Mayor Celso Lobregat has ordered barangay officials, tanod and the barangay intelligence network in the city to be vigilant in the face of security threats or possible spillover of violence from Sulu.
Earlier, Braganza had said they are ready for the expected spillover of the fighting because there were Misuari loyalists in nearby Zamboanga del Norte and Sarangani provinces. With B. Garcia, Jr, C. Jimenez, F. Marasigan, R. Mercene