GPH-MILF Peace Process for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part III: The 23rd Exploratory Round in Kuala Lampur, a Big Nothing, Part 1

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Abu Sayyaf Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part II: Resurrection of the Abu Sayyaf 4

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Abu Sayyaf Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part II: The Resurrection of the Abu Sayyaf Urban Terrorist Group, Part 3

In my preceding entry in this four part series, "Part 2," I discussed just how the media invention known as the "Abu Sayyaf Urban Terrorist Group came into existence. From Abu Sayyaf's 1988 inception with founder Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, to his death at the hands of the PNP SAF, or, Philippine National Police Special Action Force, in 1998, to the different factions doing battle to claim the Abu Sayyaf's empire of dust. Likewise, I described how Abdurajak's younger brother Khadaffy tried to lead the group without much success, and how a faction under Amilhamsa Antal Sali Jr., better known by the moniker "Kumander Kosovo," ended up operating in Zamboanga City on Mainland Mindanao. After Kosovo's downfall and incarceration in New Bilibid Prison in Metro Manila's Muntilupa City on Luzon (he died on the second day of a two day prison uprising there that he led on March 14th and 15th of 2005), his small operation came under the control of Zamboanga City native Amiljamsa Ajijul, known by the nom de guerre, "Abu Alex Alvarez." Noting how Ajijul was mortally wounded during a police operation in September of 2006, that killed his father Andalul as well, I discussed how even this tiny group of no more than nine members factionalised as well.

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Shortly after Alihamja Ajijul and his father Andalul were killed in 2006, younger son Abdullah, known as "Abu Termiji," assumed control of what was by then an eight man extortion outfit wielding the "Abu Sayyaf" name strictly for show. What better way to get your point across than to sign your threatening letter with that most threatening of names, "Abu Sayyaf"? Unfortunately for Abu Termiji however, his chance to shine only lasted so long before his small group grew even smaller. In the interim between taking the reins of power eight months before, Abdullah had diversified into KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom, assisting the larger faction of Puruji "Boy Sapodek" Indama in the kidnapping of three public school teachers on the water between Zamboanga City's Barangay Arena Blanco, and that barangay's offshore island of Landang Guia on January 23rd, 2009.

The three kidnapped eachers:

1) Rafael Mayonado, age 22,

2) Janette de los Reyes, 27,

3) Quiozon Freires, 29,

were together with a fourth teacher and the boat's operator aboard a motorbanca- Philippine-speak for a motorised wooden skiff- travelling to Landang Guia Island, where all four taught at the island's public highschool, "Arena Blanco National Highschool- Landang Guia Annex." Less than two kilometers off of the coast of the city, they were overtaken by a faster boat carrying four BIAF gunmen from the 113 Base Command. The BIAF, or, Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces as the armed wing of the MILF is known, had been fed intelligence by none other than Puruji "Boy Sapodek" Indama, courtesy of Abdullah "Abu Termiji" Ijijul and his band of cretins.

The 113 Base Command, with operational control over the entire Zamboanga Peninsula and SOME of its offshore islets, is one of a few BIAF Base Commands that dips and dabbles in the KFR trade. Actually, the 113 is the leading BIAF formation in the kidnapping industry. Two sub-Kumanders control most of the kidnappings on the Zamboanga Peninsula:

1) Kamsa Asdanal, disowned by the MILF Central Committee, which claims he is a pirate, et cetera and so forth. Kamsa operates on the peninsula but has small camps on both Olutanga and Sacol Islands

2) Waning Abdusalam, headquartered in the municipality of Payao, in Zamboanga Sibugay Province, until the end of October, 2011, when the AFP, or, Armed Forces of the Philippines, captured his main camp in retaliation for his having had an AFP major and his wife both shot between the eyes and burned during an act of retaliation against Rural Transit Bus Lines, a bus company he has been terrorising for years.

The three teachers were kidnapped while the fourth was left aboard the motorbanca with the boat's operator as the BIAF changed course heading towards Olutanga Island off of Zamboanga Sibugay Province. The 113 Base Command then sold the three kidnsppto the BIAF's 114 Base Command, on Basilan, who then sold the three to the Abu Sayyaf's leading faction on Basilan, that of Puruji Indama so that although Indama planned the entire cqper. Although three more teachers had been kidnapped not long after, on March 13th, 2009, also by sub-Kumander Kamsa Asdanal of the 113 Base Command:

1) Jocelyn Enriquez, 43

2) Jocelyn Inion, 39

3) Noemi Mandi 34

Abdullah Ajijul and his small group had absolutely nothing to do with it. In any event, the small group found much greener pastures on Basilan, relocating there over the Summer of 2009, although four men soon grew tired of the constant life on the run and living in the rough. By July, Abdulkhalil Mallah had taken three men and said "Adios." In retrospect, at least for the short term, Mallah, who much preferred to be called "Ibni Acosta," must have been glad he had done so, for on November 18th, 2009, Abdullah Ajijul was killed in a firefight with the AFP in the municipality of Sumisip, as the AFP moved against the Abu Sayyaf in its on again- off again encampment in that town's Sitio Bakisong, in Barangay Cambug. What little remained of his group, three men including Abdullah's son, Ramjay Ijijul.

Abdulkahil Mallah didn't have much time to think deeply about such things because by the time his ex-leader met his own sad demise, Mallah had already been sitting on the IS-AFP hotseat for a solid month. As with those before him, it wasn't long before Abdulkhalil Mallah ran afoul of local authorities and with three of his fellow Abu Sayyaf guerillas,fled south. Instead of heading to Jolo Island as is the case with most Abu Sayyaf members who end up turning tail south, he led his men to the promised land of Tawi Tawi. There Mallah played house while dispatching followers to and fro between Tawi Tawi and Zamboanga City to keep the group's extortion ledgers current.

Still, eventually one of Mallah's followers ran afoul of the local powers that be in Tawi Tawi's capital of Bongao. On Saturday night, October 8th, 2009 Mallah and three of his men got into a brief but intense firefight in Bongao's Barangay Tubig Tanah. As the other side withdrew down Kalye Bisaya, in the adjacent barangay of Kasanyangan, Mallah had his men clear out all their belongings from their shared home in Sitio Kasulutan and set off for the Bongao Municipal Pier. It was on the pier, as the Zamboanga City-bound ferry pulled up to the dock, that the AFP's MBLT-2- that same MBLT-2- recognised Mallah as the detachment's Marines provided security for the ferry arrival. With a serious wound above his collar bone Abdulkahil Mallah naturally attracted attention.

Charged with twenty-one counts of Kidnapping, Mallah got a free ride north but not on the ferry. Instead he was bundled aboard a Philippine Air Force (PAF) Huey (UH-1H) for a hop, skip, and a jump to Jolo City where he was then transferred to an AC-130 and shipped to IS-AFP Headquarters at AFP Headquarters, at Fort Bonifacio in Metro Manila's Quezon City. There Mallah enjoyed the hospitality that only the IS-AFP can provide as he was subjected to tactical interrogation. There Mallah would perhaps even feel lucky to have been tortured, considering what had happened to Abdullah Ajijul.

Back in Zamboanga City, Abdullah's son Ramjay began trying to salvage what was left of the family business, but alas, what is dead is dead, and what is buried is buried. While one can find an occasional arrest of an Abu Sayyaf member within the borders of Zamboanga City, it is usually only because the subject is transiting the city on their way to and from their homes in Basilann Jolo, or Tawi Tawi and Manila. After all, Zamboanga City IS the regional population centre and the only airport connecting with Manila for the Filipinos living in the three aforementioned island provinces of Mindanao. Of course extortion and KFR continues to plague the city just it has ever since the Subunan Tribesmen first arrived from Indonesia. It must be said that part of the activity is the handiwork of the Abu Sayyaf, while most of the rest is split between the two aforementioned Base Commamds of the BIAF, the 113th and the 114th. Like Davao City far to the south, Zamboanga City is an "open city" in which anyone and everyone willing to engage in nefarious act can- and often does.
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In thr fourth and final part I will cover a recent event in Zamboanga City in which the authorities blamed the Abu Sayyaf Group Urban Terrorist Group, or ASG-UTG.

Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part IX: The Release of Monaliza Almonte Kapa

As noted in "Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part V," Monaliza Almonte Kapa was kidnapped by the BIAF 113 Base Command, the BIAF being the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, as the armed wing of the MILF is known. The 113 Base Command, the BIAF formation with operational control over the entire Zamboanga Peninsula, save the offshore islands attached to Zamboanga City, primarily earns its keep by KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom, and to a slightly lesser extent, by extortion. Indeed, it was this particular kidnapping that directly set in motion that hugely expencive Military operation in late October and early November, that accomplished nothing other then capturing a former MNLF camp in the municipality of Payao, in Zamboanga Sibugay Province.

As noted in a recent "MILF Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011" entry, Payao had been a long time coming and had been on the table since last spring's BIAF attack of a Rural Transit Lines passenger bus in the municipality of Tungawan, also in Zamboanga Sibugay Province. In that attack four guerillas from the 113 Base Command boarded the bus after hailing it near the end of its Ipil to Zamboanga City route. As the bus entered a series of challenging "s" turns in a mountain pass two of the young men stood up and revealed 45 caliber pistols. One of the men suddenly pivoted amd quickly fired a single round through the eyes of one of two CAAs serving as bus marshals. CAAs, or Civilian Active Auxiliaries are members of (almost always) geographically fixed armed reservists. Of the two types of CAAs, SCAAs, or Special CAAs, or privately funded paramilitaries under the employ of private businessmen. In this case, the owner of Rural Transit Lines needed protection for his large fleet and so formed his own paramilitary and employed two CAAs on each bus.

Rural Transit Line needed protection because like virtually any large business on Mindanao, his bus company had been targeted by professional extortion groups, in this case that group was the 113 Base Command although the company is also targeted by the 102 Base Command on its Lanao routes as well. Refusing to pay, Rural has been targeted for six years running now and as such, anyone on a Rural Transit bus is in serious risk of losing their life.

As the young men fired his 45 caliber pistol at the CAA sitting at the rear of the bus a man sitting next to the CAA instinctively reached for his own side arm and was killed along with his wife sitting next to him. That man was Major Julastidi Arasid, the Executive Officer of the 18IB (Infantry Battalion). He and his wife were making their way to Zamboanga City for their 15 year old son's highschool graduation (Philippine students graduate highschool at or slightly before age 16). Afterwards the gunmen and his three colleagues forced everyone off of the bus, including the second CAA who had been shot and wounded as well, and the bus was set afire, burning the remainins of the Major, his wife, and the murdered CAA.

That horrible incident suddenly made the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines, anxious to reign in the man behind the multitude of attacks on Rural, and when they quickly discovered who the culprit was. BIAF sub-Kumander Waning Abdusalam, headquartered in that former MNLF camp in the municipality of Payao, they set their sights upon him. Sadly, it took more than five years of heinous crimes against civilians before the AFP was ready to act but at least they were moving against him.

After three halh hearted attempts, which will be discussed in a piece on this last campaign in Payao that is currently in the pipeline, a fourth was planned in order to try and get a handle on the aforementioned KFR victim, Monaliza Almonte Kapa. The SWAG, or, Naval Special Weapons Attack Group, a Naval Special Forces unit, was deployed off of Payao to prevent Waning Abdusalam from fleeing by water, as well as his possibly receiving re-inforcements. The stated objective was to prevent the 113 Base Command from taking Ms.Kapa off of the Zamboanga Peninsula and onto Basilan. Of course Ms.Kapa had never been taken to Payao. Instead, she had been taken to Olutanga Island where she was sold to the 114 Base Command which then took her to their strongest province, Basilan. It was in and around the municipality of Al Barka that Ms.Kapa had been repeatedly sighted.

Unbeknownst to the kidnappers apparently was that Ms.Kapa, a Muslim, had an uncle, Alimuddin Danganan Bual, a mid-ranking officer in the BIAF. Bual quickly assumed the role of family negotiator and just as quickly overcame the 114 Base Command's opening gambit of a demand for P20 Million ($425,000). Finally, whittling down the ransom to P500,000 ($11,000). The ransom was handed over to a BIAF courier on Thursday, November 17th, 2011, and on Friday evening, at 645PM, Ms.Kapa was released to her uncle on Varela Street in Zamboanga City's downtown area. The uncle immediately delivered by Ms.Kapa to the 102nd Infantry Brigade Headquarters for the requisite de-briefing and cursory medical examination. By midnite Ms.Kapa was back with her husband at their home in the municipality of Pitogo in Zamboanga del Sur Province.

Abu Sayyaf Armed Contacts for the Second Quarter of 2011, Part II: AFP Operations in Al Barka End, Two Abu Sayyaf Guerillas Killed

I need to open this with a rejoinder that this was a Second Quarter of 2011 incident. Ergo, this was months before the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines operation in October of 2011 that ended so badly with the loss of eighteen Scout Rangers in Basilan Province's municipality of Al Barka.
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On Saturday April 16th, 2011, at 615AM, the AFP's 3rd Special Forces Battalion (Airborne) once again captured the Abu Sayyaf Camp in the municipality of Al Barka's Barangay Makalang. Ironically the capture marked the end of a two month campaign against the ASG, or Abu Sayyaf Group's Jamiri Faction. That campaign began in February just after the AFP capture this very same camp.

According to standard military accumen, as well as according to AFP protocols, once a camp is captured it is turned over to the LGU, or, the Local Government Unit (as in municipal and/or provincial government). The LGU is supposed to then co-ordinate its local armed forces (CAAs, as in Civilian Active Auxiliaries, such as CAFGU, SCAA, or the CVO, the latter an LGU dedicated force under the supervision of the PNP, or Philippine National Police). The CAA, the progeny of the infamous Civilian Home Defense Force (CHDF) of the Marcos Era, is then tasked with "Holding" the tract, repelling any counter-operations launched to re-capture it as well as any kind of subversive armed activities around it.

Al Barka however, is a relatively new municipality carved out of the adjacent town of Tipo Tipo. It receives no IRA, or Internal Revenue Allotment. This allotment provides the funding for CAA operations in any given municipality. Therefore, after capturing this same camp in Janurary, the AFP "Cleared" the sector and turned it over to the LGU, in this case the municipal government. The LGU, having no means with which to "Hold" it promptly abandoned it, hence the two month operation that basically had the AFP treading water. The operation centered on the town of Al Barka, particularly its Barangays Cambug, Linuan, Kailih, Danapah, Guinanta and of course Makalang in addition to the adjoining Barangay's Limba Upas and Baguindan in Tipo Tipo.

Fifteen ASG guerillas had been sighted moving through the jungles around Al Barka and so once again, the AFP found itself trying to capture the ASG camp in Barangay Makalang's Sitio Bohe Bu'ug. Al Barka's Barangays Guinanta and Kailih are BIAF controlled. The BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, are the military wing of the MILF. Like all BIAF on Basilan they belong to the 114 Base Command. Naturally, as we were reminded in October of 2011, operating in close proximity to any BIAF position very often leads to extreme violence. In addition, there is a close relationship between the 114 Base Command and the ASG. Indeed, in both that aforementioned Janurary AND this latest incident, the BIAF DID engage the AFP after the latter inadvertently crossed the outer perimeter of the BIAF 114 Command's 3rd Brigade Camp- the same 3rd Brigade that would involve itself in the October 18th killing of AFP Scout Rangers.

On the day in question however, April 16th, 2011, at the ASG camp, only the ASG engaged the AFP. The AFP's superior forces outmanned the ASG who as noted had less than a single platoon's worth of fighters. When the smoke cleared the AFP managed to capture three M16s, one of which was fitted with an M203 rifle grenade launcher, and one M14. In addition to two dead ASG guerillas, three wounded guerillas were taken into custody. The two deceased were immediately turned over to the Barangay Captain of Makalang, himself a BIAF guerilla.

Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part IX: Romnick Jakaria "Escapes"

The July 12th, 2011 KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom of Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann, her 14 year old son Kevin Erik Lunsmann and her 19 year old nephew Romnick Jakaria made headlines for a few days immediately after the incident took place, until the Government implemented a "news blackout," a euphanism for "overt censorship" over the case. As I noted in two KFR entries, "Kidnapping for the Third Quarter of 2011, Part II" and "Kidnapping for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part I," cases involving foreigners are much more important to both local authorities and the domestic media than the thrice weekly kidnappings of Filipinos. It is understandable that Western-based media sources would tebnd to focus on the kidnapping of Westerners but the Philippine Government and domestic media's obsession with foreigners is a bit more complex.

As I have noted in those two aforementioned entries, Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann was born Jerpa Usman, to a Samal tribal family on Pangapuyan, a small island technically belonging to Zamboanga City. As a young child she was whisked away to America by a missionary couple who then re-named her Gerfa Yeatts. As an adult she met and married a co-worker at a healthcare corporation, Hiko Lunsmann. Eventually the couple had a son, Kevin Erick, and settled into a rather idyllic routine in a rural Virginia sub-division, in Campbell County.

Ms.Lunsmann had longed for and dreamed of re-kindling her relationship with her birth family, still residing on a group of islands in between Basilan and Zamboanga City. Shortly after Kevin Erik was born Ms.Lunsmann followed through and re-connected with her family. Buying a large lot on Tictabon Island, part of Zamboanga City, she set about constructing a large residential compound with three spacious homes. Not understanding local mores Ms.Lunsmann became irked as more and more members of her large extended family came out of the woodwork asking for money. Not suprisingly Ms.Lunsmann closed the spigot and refused to keep doling out ever increasing sums of cash.

One of those relatives who ended up feeling slighted was her sister Alma Jakaria, who had ended up living on Mamalawi Island, administratively attached to Isabela City on Basilan. On Ms.Lunsmann's latest visit to the Philippines Ms.Jakaria and her 19 year old son Romnick Jakaria arrived at the Tictabon Island compound just two days before Gerfa and Kevin Erick were set to depart for their return trip to the US. Romnick Jakaria however, is a member of the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, as the military wing of the MILF is known, a guerilla in its 114 Base Command. Despite being related to Ms.Lunsmann he led a kidnapping team from the 113 Base Command, under sub-Kumander Waning Abdusalam, who until two weeks ago operated out of the municipality of Payao, in Zamboanga Sibugay Province.

Although the 114 Base Command is quite capable on its own, certain islands are within the jurisdiction of the 113 and so it was a joint operation. The 113 Base Command took its two captives, Gerfa Lunsmann and her son Kevin Erik and delivered them to a detachment of the 114 Base Command waiting in Basilan. Jakaria was of course reportedly a kidnap victim as well but just two days later was back on Mamalawi Island hanging out in the open, only heading into Basilan Proper when he received word the a composite detachment of police and soldiers were accompanying his mother Alma to Mamalawi to investigate Romnick's reported presence there.

Ms.Lunsmann was released on October 3rd, after an initial ransom payment was given to MILF representatives. Kevin Erik though remained behind in an interesting development given that most parents would opt to release their children before themselves and yet it is completely understandable given the BIAF propencity to rape female victims.

On Saturday, November 12th Romnick Jakaria had a barangay councilor, Ariel Laping, from Barangay Tubigan in the municipality of Maluso, broker his surrender to an AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines Corporal Lazo, who as a Cadre Officer commands that barangay's CAFGU detachment (CAFGU, or Civilian Armed Force Geographical Unit, the primary entity in the AFP's paramilitary programme known as CAAs, or Civilian Active Auxilaries). Coporal Lazo then delivered Jakaria to an AFP garrison in Barangay Abong- Abong. The AFP then told two different stories, both of which had Jakaria as a victim. The first story had Jakaria sneaking away from his BIAF captors after they fell asleep, due to the AFP's relentless operational pursuit, "Perhaps the kidnappers were exhausted after running around..."- Colonel Ricardo Visaya, Commanding Officer of the 104th Infantry Brigade.

The second story had the AFP's Scout Rangers hounding the BIAF until they simply released Jakaria to get some rest. Suuuuuure. Meanwhile, both stories had Jakaria undergoing "questioning," as in interrogation and NOT debriefing. Kevin Erik Lunsmann remains in captivity with the 114 Base Command.

MILF Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part II: The 113 Base Command in Payao Goes Off the Reservation: The Prequel

As I often explain, the MILF offers very little financial support to its military organisation, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, or the BIAF in shorthand. This has two very important detrimental results, both for the MILF/BIAF and for its unfortunate stakeholders. First, the BIAF is forced to find ways in which to creatively fund itself. Unlike the NPA which enjoys considerable earnings from multi-national mining and lumber concessionaires, the BIAF almost always operates in areas bereft of natural resources. Therefore, the "Revolutionary Taxes" collected by the BIAF- usually under a religious sheen as "Zakat," (charity), one of five compulsory acts incumbent upon all adult Muslims (how convenient)- is far too paltry to support the organisation above and beyond basic sustenance.

In 2004 the BIAF's Field Divisions were converted to their current form, the ostensibly mobile "Base Commands." Each Base Command operates independently of all other Base Commands and so they each raise their own funds. In order to be able to provide for weaponry, etc., most resort to illegal activities although such activities vary according to the particular Base Command and the "pickings" available within their individual AORs, or Areas of Responsibility (military-speak for Areas of Operation). In the case of some Base Commands, the 102, 103, 105, 113, 114, and 118, this involves heavy amounts of both commercial extortion (Protection Rackets), and KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom. Among the most active in those two activities is the 113.

The 113 Base Command's main camp sits atop a small mountain, a hill really, Bundok Payong (Mt.Payong) which lends its name to the surrounding barangay, now known simply as Barangay Payong. Located in the municipality of Sultan Naga Dimaporo, formerly known as Karomatan, in Lanao del Norte Province, directly bordering the Zamboanga Peninsula and its three constituent provinces:

1) Zamboanga Sibugay

2) Zamboanga del Sur

3) Zamboanga del Norte

The 113's AOR, apart from Sultan Naga Dimaporo, consists of the entire Zamboanga Peninsula proper, and some of its offshore islands. Other offshore islands, including those belonging to Zamboanga City, belong to the 114 Base Command which is centered in Basilan (and of which I have written about relating to the latest violence in the municipality of Al Barka). This close proximity sometimes leads to commerce between the two adjacent Base Commands, mostly consisting of the 113, the more prolific of the two, seling KFR victims to the 114 which then reaps a profit from simply ransoming them.

Authorities aren't stupid (well some anyway). If I, a foreigner, am this knowledgeable about the ins and outs of that little corner of hell you can bet your bottom barong that both the PNP and AFP (Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines) know the same information and in a precious few cases, even know a lot more (usually because they too profit from payoffs and sometimes direct involvement). My last rejoinder of course explains just why these degenerate scumbags aren't prosecuted for their literally thousands of major crimes. On April 5th, 2011, that changed in a major way.

One of the 113 Base Command's major extortion targets, Rural Bus Lines, refuses to bow down and hand over its hard earned profits to a bunch of social parasites. The result of course is that the 113 Base Command regularly targets the company, and this usually involves shooting and burning busses that pass through BIAF-controlled communities. As a result of these frequent attacks which have been targeting that particular company for 5 years and three other similarly reluctant bus companies for nearly as long, the AFP extended its SCAA Program to include bus companies.

SCAAs, or Special Citizen Active Auxiliaries are a variant within the CAA Protocol. CAAs, or Civilian Active Auxiliaries, are the post-Marcos equivalent of the CHDF, or Civilian Home Defense Force. In the AFP's COIN (counterinsurgency) program the AFP clears rebel-controlled communities. At that point it is up to the original CAA entity, the CAFGU, or Citizens Active Force Geographical Unit, to "Hold" the community- in other words, to keep the insurgents from re-infiltrating and eventually re-controlling the community. CAFGU are geographically fixed, manned by citizens of specific barangays who aren't supposed to ever operate outside those particular barangays. Of course the reality is alot different but that of course is besides the point.

Seeing a need for a localised force dedicated towards "Holding" the areas of operation for big businesses, the AFP then created the SCAA. The SCAAs are receuited by and paid for by a specific company but armed, trained, and ostensibly under the control of an AFP detachment known as a "cadre battalion" (as are CAFGU). Eventually SCAA were utilised in other ways, such as using them to serve as "Bus Marshals" here on Mindanao. A passenger taking a trip on a targeted company's bus will usually see two young men in camouflage fatigues, cradling M1, M14, or M16 assault rifles, sitting in staggered positions. Unfortunately the SCAA soldiers, known as CAAs, usually take the very same seating arrangement each and every time, one dead centre on the rear bench, the other at the midway point on eaither side depending on the demand of passengers for specific seats.

On the day in question, April 5th, 2011, four young men boarded Rural Bus Lines unit #9342 in the municipality of Roseller T.Lim (RT Lim) in Zamboanga Sibugay Province. Like the majority of bus passengers on Mindanao these four men flagged down the bus as it sped down National Hwy, heading into Zamboanga City, in Zamboanga del Norte Province, from the town of Ipil (the capital of Zamboanga Sibugay Province).

As the bus entered the municipality of Tungawan's Barangay Upper Tungawan, one of the four men suddenly stood. Quickly, a second one stood as well. Almost as if on cue the two pulled 45 caliber pistols, the first man quickly pivoting and with pinpoint accuracy shot the CAA sitting on the bus' rear seat right between the eyes, killing Lito de la Cruz instantly. His companion drew down on the second CAA, Frederico A.Luchaves, nodding his head slowly as if to warn him against moving a muscle. Sitting next to the dead CAA in the rear was AFP Major Julistidi Arasid, the EXO (Executive Officer, as in Second in Command) of the 18IB (Infantry Battalion), stationed in Ipil. Major Arasid's wife Sitti Alaya Jundam Arasid and their 15 year old son had travelled all the way from their Zamboanga City homes just to meet the Major as he came off of rotation in Ipil, so that they could travel home to Zamboanga City together. It was a special week for the couple, their eldest son, the 15 year old joining them, was about to graduate from highschool (most Filipinos do so by age 16).

Though not in uniform Major Arasid, like most AFP personnel, always carried his AFP-issued sidearm, a 45 caliber pistol. Perhaps fearing for his and his family's life Major Arasid, sitting immediately to the left of the just killed CAA, suddenly, perhaps instinctually, reached for his pistol. Just as suddenly both he and his wife were shot in the head and immediately killed. Pandemonium broke out as passengers began screaming and some quickly rushed towards the front trying to exit the closed door. As this took place the second gunman who had been training his pistol on CAA Luchaves saw the man suddenly move and promptly dropped his with a single round, wounding him. Major Arasid's 15 year old son took that as an opportunity to dive out the open window beside him and run for dear life.

The remaining two gunmen quickly revealed themselves and ordered all passengers and the bus driver, Crispin Lozada, to empty out all their valuables onto their seats and then slowly move towards the front, as they had Mr.Lozada open the door to allow passengers out. Once all passengers were lined up on the side of the road, two of the gunmen trained the newly captured M14s taken from the two CAAs, and trained them on their terrified captives as a third gunman went down the line checking for secreted valuables. Inside the bus the gunmen who had killed the three victims at the rear of the vehicle trained his pistol on the painfully wounded CAA, Luchaves. Kicking the man as he crawled, he forced the badly wounded CAA off of the bus and onto the roadside. As bad as Frederico Luchaves surely felt I guarantee that he felt much better after witnessing which took place shortly after he tumbled down the steps and onto the pavement.

The lone gunman inside of the bus doused the interior with gasoline that had been brought aboard in a jerrycan by one of the four gunmen. Walking to the bus' entrance he threw a lit matchbook down the aisle and immediately set the whole interior aflame. The three bodies inside the bus were charred beyond recognition when authorities finally doused the flames nearly two hours later. Had CAA Luchaves not crawled out of the bus he too would have ended up burned beyond recognition.

So ends this entry, a prelude to the recent AFP operation in the municipality of Payao. I will continue this sad tale in "Part 2."

Kidnapping for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part VIII: Frank Oliver Tam Lim

For well over a decade Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur Province was immune from the anarchy and violence plagueing nearly every corner of the Zamboanga Peninsula. The last recorded KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom, was that of 55 year old Nenia "Babet" Candil Gomonit and her 10 year old grandson Ceekim Gomonit on October 30th, 2010. As the two settled in for a quiet evening watching television in their Barangay San Jose home their front door flew open. Rushing into the room a group of BIAF 113 Base Command guerillas who quickly grabbed a shocked Ms.Gomonit and her grandson before dragging them out into their get away vehicle (the "BIAF" being the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the military wing of the MILF).

On December 10th Ceekim's father, Babet's son, received an SMS (text) informing him that since he had refused to even negotiate for a ransom he could dig up his mother's remains on a hillside in Sultan Naga Dimaporo, a municipality just over the border in Lanao del Norte Province (co-incidentaly within 2 kilometers of the 113 Base Command's main camp). In the end, Ms.Gomonit could only be identified by her dentures. Amazingly, her son STILL refused to negotiate over his own son, Ceekim. He defended his position by claiming that it was what his mother would have wanted. To read all about that interesting case refer to my entry, "Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2010, Part II: Resurrection of the Pentagon Gang" and a follow up entry on Ceekim Gomonit being released, "Kidnap for Ransom for the First Quarter of 2011, Part II."

Before the Gomonits the last kidnapping to take place in Pagadian City was that of local attorney Maria Dolores Adelaida "Maridol" Montano Liong and her 5 year old daughter Alexa Montano Liong in 2001. On March 29th of that year mother and daughter had just left Maridol's office at Ranillo Law Office on Pagadian's Malvar Street. Walking only a couple of steps the two were surrounded by seven guerillas from the BIAF 4th Field Division (which became the 113 Base Command in 2004- are we noticing a particular pattern here?). Despite it being only 430PM on a downtown city street, the men carried long arms (M16s and M14s) as they hustled their two terrified captives past shocked onlookers and into a charcoal coloured Isuzu SUV.

Only after Maridol's husband James, scion of a local Tsinoy family, paid a hefty ransom, did mother and daughter finally gained their release on June 18th, 2001 ("Tsinoy" being a Filipino of Chinese descent). Unlike today, the MILF of 2001 was still being run by its founder, the late Hashim Salamat. Instead of denying his men had kidnapped the two, as the MILF ALWAYS does today, he instead claimed that it was a few rogue guerillas and that in the end it had been the 4th Field Division that had pressured those "rogue guerillas" into freeing the captives, that and a "Room and Lodging Fee," euphanism for ransom here on Mindanao.

With nine years inbetween the Liong and Gomonit kidnappings the people of Pagadian City allowed themselves to imagine that both incidents were merely aberrations. That faux sense of security and invulnerability was shattered on Thursday, October 27th, 2011, in the city's Barangay Gulayon. On the day in question, Frank Oliver Tam Lim, age 32, and his 30 year old brother John Patrick Tam Lim, sons of local Tsinoy businessman Akao "Frank" Lim, were heading to young Frank's poultry outfit, "Fresh Harvest Farm," on National Hiway. As their Toyota Hi Lux pickup truck turned into the farm's access road they were followed by a green Isuzu Highlander SUV.

Stopping at the gate next to the caretaker's home, Frank jumped out of his pickup truck to open the gate's lock. As he did so five men in BIAF fatigues and carrying M16s jumped out of the Isuzu and rushed forward. As they moved past the Lim's pickup truck John Patrick jumped out of the passenger seat and ran for dear life.

From a safe distance John Patrick watched as the BIAF guerillas dragged his brother Frank into the Isuzu SUV before it quickly departed back onto National Hiway, heading across the provincial line into the neighbouring municipality of Polanco in Zamboanga del Norte. With the 113 Base Command's main kidnapping crew, that of sub-Kumamder Waning Abdusalam, now on the run after the Military captured his main camp in the town of Payao, across the border in Zamboanga Sibugay Province, it is quite possible that Lim has been taken by the 114 Base Command. Although centered on Basilan, it also has jurisdictional control over all of Zamboanga City's offshore barangays. With the kidnappers having driven into Polanco and thus into Zamboanga del Norte Province, the province in which Zamboanga City is situated, chances are even greater that he is now the "guest" of the 114 Base Command.

Lim is an attractive target with his father owning several high profile businesses including the Jollibee fast food outlet on the corner of Pagadian City's F.S.Pajares Avenue and Jamisola Street and a high volume coconut oil mill, et cetera,et cetera. The victim, Frank Oliver, lived in Barangay Central, on Rizal Street, and was known by many to keep a regular schedule. Thursday he normally visited the farm after doing his banking. Unfortunately he, like many in Pagadian City, became complacent.

MILF Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part I: Ambush in Al Barka: The Prequel, Part 3

In discussing the carnage that took place on October 18th, 2011, when nineteen Army Scout Rangers were killed in the municipality of Al Barka on Mindanao's island province of Basilan, and the horrible mutilation that was commited against some of their bodies, my mind was naturally drawn back to an eerily similar incident that took place on July 10th, 2007, when, in that same town, in fact in that very same barangay, Guinanta, fourteen Marines met a similar tragic fate. Indeed, not only was it the same group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, or BIAF as the MILF military wing is more commonly known, that took center stage in both these incidents, we even have the very same BIAF "baddies" to boo and hiss at since the Government failed to handle it effectively the first time around.

In my entry "Prequel, Part 1," I discussed that July 10th, 2007 incident in minute detail. In the subsequent entry, "Prequel, Part 2," I discussed the jist of the joint Government and MILF investigatory report and wove it into the whole sordid affair and then closed that entry by noting how in November of 2009 one BIAF sub-Kumander, Haji Ustadz Asnawi Hassan "Laksaw" Addan Salah, the man we all know and love as "Dan Asnawi," but whose real playmates tend to call "Abu Mazen," was arrested for his reputed role in that 2007 bloodbath. In this, the third and final of my "Prequel" entries, I will discuss the events subsequent to Asnawi's arrest and how that arrest directly led to the October 18th, 2011 atrocities.

The pilgrimage to the Saudi Arabian cities of Mecca and Medina, known as "al Hajj" in Arabic, is one of the five "pillars" of Islam. If an adult is physically and financially able to do so, they must take this pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. A prevalent folk belief holds that all who complete the pilgrimage are at the point of completion automatically absolved of all sins committed up until that point. Moreover, one who has completed this pilgrimage is entitled to claim the title of "Haji" (or "Hajah" if female), a mark of great distinction and respect in most of the Muslim World. In the Philippines the cost of Hajj is actually set by the Philippine Government who negotiates an all inclusive package with the Saudi Arabian Government. The cost? This last Hajj, in 2011, it ran above P160,000 ($3,400), equivalent to two years salary for a middle class Filipino and precious few Muslim Filipinos come anywhere near anyone's definition of "Middle Class." Therefore one can easily see that the pilgrimage is an important, life changing event, pivotal spiritually and financially in the life of a Filipino Muslim.

Sub-Kumander Dan Asnawi is the second in charge of the BIAF's 114 Base Command, the element with operation control over the entire province of Basilan. He himself had undertaken this pilgrimage many years ago but had long promised one of his wives that he would take her on that same pilgrimage ("one of his wives" because he is polygamous as Islam allows one man up to four wives). On November 7th, 2009, Asnawi and his wife joined Mayor Mohammed Kabukisan, the chief executive of Al Barka, the town Asnawi calls home, on the first leg of that all important life changing journey. Boarding a Pilippine Air jet in Zamboanga City International Airport the small group excitedly stowed their things and buckled in for the hour long flight to Manila where the small contingent from Basilan would link with contingents of other Filipino Muslims from all corners of the nation and together fly onward to Saudi Arabia in chartered craft from the Saudi flag carrier. The plane slowly moved away from the airport terminal and taxied to a staging platform before entering a runway for departure...and then abruptly shut its engines. Few aboard had ever flown before, let alone flown much, and so that abrupt engine shutoff didn't register with them as unusual.

As the excitement that comes with one's departure on a long planned journey began to wane in the stifling tropical heat the plane's passengers were shocked when the door of the craft suddenly opened and in rushed PNP SAF commandos (Philippine National Police Special Action Force), armed and in combat mode. Stalking the centre aisle and moving steadily but with caution, their rifles pointed directly at Asnawi, the lead officer ordered the shocked BIAF officer to slowly put his arms up, then rise before immediately moving into the aisle. Complying, Asnawi found himself being forced face down into the aisle and then hooded and handcuffed behind his back. Ignoring the questions coming from both Asnawi's wife as well as from Mayor Kabukisan, the police commandos frog marched Asnawi off of the plane, onto the tarmac, and directly into an unmarked minivan sitting in a small convoy of police vehicles before the motorcade quickly sped off for the farside of the airport. After a quick transfer into an SUV the line of police vehicles into the city proper en route to the Police Regional Headquarters at Camp Abendan.

Camp Abendan is also the headquarters of DIPO-West, or the Directorate of Integrated Police Operations for Western Mindanao, the entity which had staged the arrest of Asnawi, the SAF being merely a field unit of the Police Regional Command (PRO-9). When it became quite clear that Asnawi wouldn't be co-operating they quickly bundled him onto a waiting helicopter for the 18 kilometer ride back across the Basilan Strait and by the next morning, November 8th, Asnawi was lodged into the Basilan Provincial Jail in Isabela City's Barangay Sumagdang. Almost immediately Military Intelligence began picking up chatter in and around Zamboanga City about the MILF Central Command being asked to greenlight a "liberation mission" to free Asnawi. For once a Philippine security agency had done its job competently and effectively and instead of receiving positive re-inforcement for having done so, it was instead ignored...well, mostly anyway. The Army's 1st Infantry Division (1ID) quickly transmitted its scoop to the Provincial Police Office, or PPO. The Basilan PPO's Director, Superintendent Abubakar Tulawie then promptly informed the warden of the Basilan Provincial Jail, Jumaril Sali, who then...did nothing. When Director followed up on the matter he found that Warden Sali wouldn't even allow him to enter the facility's front gate.

After repeated inquiries went nowhere Director Tulawie deployed a six man detachment to a hastily created post directly in front of the jail. These six policemen were never allowed through the jail's first gate, even to use the "comfort room" (as the loo or bathroom is known hereabouts). Indeed this was a very strange response and all the more so for a warden that had through two jail breaks in the preceding three years. Still, there wasn't much that Director could do at the moment.

Basilan Provincial Jail sits on a one hectare parcel of land that backed by thick jungle. Separating the jail is a three meter tall wall. Constructed of common cinderblock and mortar, above the first meter it is strengthened with a mildly reinforced concrete exterior, but for some unexplicable reason the first meter itself is simply cinderblock with mortar to bond them.


On the night of December 7th, 2009, two BIAF detachments from the 114 Base Command approached Isabela City through the jungle. Ten meters from the treeline the detachment commander, sub-Kumander Long Sulaiman split his force into two seperate elements, ten guerillas fanned out along a line, with five of them moving up a strand of trees that skirted one side of the jail to the fromt gate, so as to provide cover to the operation detachment's fifty guerillas as well as to keep the police detachment and any possible re-inforcements in check. Approaching the three meter high wall two guerillas wielding sledgehammers began to beat against the bottom portion, far short of the reinforced concrete. Finally breaking through the cinderblocks the men widened a square hole measuring one and a half meters by one and a half meters through which the fifty guerillas then infiltrated the jail's yard.

Quickly making their way into the main building containing the communal cells then holding sixty-four inmates. Using a simple bolt cutter to pry off the common padlocks that were used to secure the cells the guerillas created enough noise so that two of the three guards on dutie came running. As Jail Officer Grade Three (JO3) Ron Nasser and JO1 Nozer Sali descended the stairs from the small office where all three guards had been sleeping they ran into a burst of fire from at least four M16s. Nasser and Sali, armed only with pump shotguns were both hit by several rounds each. Although Nasser died instantly Sali managed to hold on and eventually pulled through. One of the BIAF guerillas was himself hit by Friendly Fire when he had the misfortune to be posted as a guard in between the stairway and the cellblock. He too was killed but was buried without having had his identity discovered.

At the front gate the six police were immediately awakened and although they had been given two ladders by, their superiors, so that in the event of an emergency they might still be able to enter the jail's grounds since Warden Sali's steadfast refusal to grant them what should have been their unassailable right since they are responsible for law enforcement even inside the provincial jail. One of the six policemen did manage to enter the jail yard via one of those same ladders only to find himself pinned down by sniper fire from the strand of trees running parallel to the facility. His five comrades in arms faired no better all. The question of course then naturally becomes whi did Warden Sali refuse not only to co-operate but to even allow a single police officer to do a spot safety check on the aging facility.

Warden Sali and one of his guards, Danie Cumbo, were paid P300,000 ($6,400) which was split evenly between them . Warden Sali has managed to turn a pretty penny (or cutiepie centavo, as the case may be) when he colluded in three separate BIAF attacks on the same jail, events naturally blamed on the Philippine bogeymen, the Abu Sayyaf (and let us never forget Jemaah Islamiyya). In fact, each break out from the Basilan Provincial Jail was co-ordinated with the MILF, and committed by its military wing, the BIAF.

The December of 2009 break out was planned by the 114 Base Command's sub-Kumander Hud "Long" Limaya, commander of the 3rd Brigade. Limaya had a very personal stake in the matter seeing as how his own second in command- co-incidentally his nephew- sub-Kumander Kamsa Limaya was incarcerated alongside the aforementioned Dan Asnawi. Both men were being held on fourteen counts of murder and several counts of frustrated murder for that July 10th, 2007 bloodbath in Al Barka. Hud Limaya delegated the actual operation to a sub-Kumander named Long Solaiman but he himself handled the logistics including the bribes going to Warden Sali.

Of sixty-four inmates in the jail, thirty-one were broken out including, in addition to the two high ranking BIAF officers I have already mentioned, three members. Of the remaining twenty-six, were Abu Sayyaf guerillas while the rest were simply the usual variety of ne'er do wells, common criminals and so forth. Once clear of the rear wall the escapees and guerillas broke into small groups that each took different routes through the jungle. The Abu Sayyaf escapees planned to regroup in an Abu Sayyaf encampment in the municipality of Sumisip and all but one eventually made it. Of the five BIAF escapees, all made their way to the 3rd Brigade's camp in Barangay Guinanta, in the town of Al Barka.

Governor Jum Akbar was under incredible stress. After a highly contentious election seven months before Ms.Akbar had finally heaved a sigh of relief as she was sworn in as the province's first female governor. One of four wives of former Governor Wahab Akbar (see my 2010 entry, "Portrait of a Warlord, Part I: Wahab Akbar), a second wife, Cherry Lyn Santos Akbar had just become Mayor of Isabela City. Their husband Wahab had himself had also successfuly won a race to become the province's lone Congressman. Wahab, a former MNLF second in command was also a co-founder of Abu Sayyaf. From smuggling boatloads of cigarettes from Malaysia to large scale distribution of "shabu" (smokable methamphetamine), to owning a bakery and a fishpond Akbar was a man with his finger in many pies, all of them the same flavour: Money. Like anyone ruthlessly ambitious Wahab Akbar had made himself a host of enemies. On November 13th of that year one or more of those enemies killed Congressman Akbar.

The murder of Wahab Akbar was memorable in a land where murder is an everyday occurrence. On the day in question Congressman Akbar had just finished a long day in session and was leaving the Congressional building in Metro Manila's Quezon City. As he and his entourage left the south wing entrance an unoccupied motorcycle parked meters away and with a powerful IED (Improvised Explosive Device, as in "bomb") detonated. Akbar, a driver, and a staffworker were immediately killed. Others would die on the operating table that night but the jist of the incident is that Governor Jum Akbar, back in Basilan, was suddenly left dead in the water. Rudderless now that her political svengali had suddenly been erased, the more pressing issue was the host of political foes that would love to see her join Wahab. All this and now the jailbreak. Understandably the Governor was near the breaking point.

Immediately she pressured the Police Provincial Office Director, Abubakar Tulawie, to produce a tangible scapegoat to hang the bulk of the guilt upon. Of course the usual culprit is simply labeled, "Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyya," no names necessary. Governor Akbar, being a political neophyte and having just lost her only political advisor suddenly, went against the grain and actually demanded results. When Director Tulawie tried to educate her on the finer points of political pattycake she indignantly responded by trying to get him fired, and then did the unthinkable by trying to get the Military to replace its top two commanders on the island. Technically, Governors and other local government executives do hold quite abit of power in terms of who is assigned to their jurisdictions. In Governor Akbar's case however, she was one, a female, and two, without a powerful local champion now that her husband had been removed from the equation. All her "requests" ended up doing was creating a posioned work environment. The result of course is that virtually all but a handful of the provincial jail escapees remained free and nobody lifted a finger to change that.

In the Autumn of 2010 a major shift took place in Basilan's security echelon as the Fleet-Marine protocol that had long held sway on the island was shunted aside in favor of a novel approach. SOCOM, or the Special Operations Command, had long lobbied the Military's Chief of Staff for a chance to flex its muscles. Heretofore SOCOM was used merely in lead tactical roles but never placed in overall command. On Basilan, SOCOM finally got its long awaited chance to shine. Task Force Basilan gave way to Special Operations Task Force-Basilan, or SOTF-B in shorthand. Aside from a single infantry battalion, the 32nd (32IB), all elements were SOCOM born and bred, with the 4th Scout Rangers Battalion in the lead role, supported by 3rd Special Forces Battalion, more popularly known as "Airborne." This radical shift in doctrine would turn out to be highly problematic as I will show in my upcoming entry, "MILF Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part II: Ambush in Al Barka, October 18th, 2011."

MILF Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part I: Ambush in Al Barka, Part 2: Prequel, 2007

"The Investigation"

In Part 1 I discussed the disgusting atrocities committed against most of the Philippine Marines who died on July 10th, 2007, in an attack by the BIAF (Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the military wing of the MILF). Not only were ten out of fourteen bodies decapitated, but most of those had also had their genitals lopped off, and a few also had hands, arms, parts of the foot, and meat from the thighs carved out as well. Naturally most people in the Philippines were outraged and for a very short while it seemed as if then-President Gloria M.Arroyo would finally prove herself to be an effective leader and bring the perpetrators of those degenerate acts to heel.

In addition to the fourteen Marines and six BIAF guerillas who had been killed, one civilian also died that day and it was his death that would finally put a sock in the President's mouth. The entire July 10th incident took place in the municipality of Al Barka's Barangay Guinanta, on a dirt road running through Sitio Puhpuh. A nine vehichle convoy from the Marine 1st Brigade was pinned down when one of the vehicles, a dumptruck on loan from the Isabela City Government, became mired in a section of the road that had turned to mud, as July is the height of the Mindanowan Monsoon, or rainy season. Immediately opposite the immobilised dumptruck was a gentle rise about 2 and a half meters high. Atop the rise, sitting 30 meters back from the road was the rear of a one floor village mosque, across from which sat the small, non-descript home of the mosque's 86 year old cleric, Imam Haji Matarul Hakim Alkanul, and his large family.

The next morning, as per an agreement reached between Local Monitoring Team Representative Sattar Ali, co-incidentally a high ranking BIAF officer himself, and the Marine's Major Mirandang Macatoun at Marine 1st Brigade Headquarters, the BIAF elements that had attacked the convoy set about searching for six Marines who still remained unaccounted for at that point. In doing so the remains were all recovered, most having been mutilated just like the remains of other Marines that had been retrieved much earlier. In addition to them the BIAF had discovered the 86 year old cleric hogtied with a red nylon rope, lying face down in the mud behind his mosque, shot in the head and his neck partially severed by a blunted sharp implement. That patch of land happened to have been held by the Marines all during the previous day's engagement and in fact had been the last position vacated by the Marines before they withdrew out of the sitio and then the barangay.

Of course the BIAF screamed bloody murder with the partyline being that the Marines atop the hill had hogtied the elderly man to keep him for...well the "what" has never been articulated by the MILF/BIAF or its defenders. The same narrative holds that he was brutally killed by the Marines in retaliation for the atrocities committed against the fallen Marines. The problem with that seemingly sensible "explanation" is that the Marines left that hill by 530PM and reported that the fallen Marines were unmolested when they rendezvoused at Magcawa Elementary School. The atrocities committed against the Marines still hadn't occurred! The MILF then flipped its script and suggested that the Imam had been brutally murdered by the Marines first and that it was his corpse that inspired the mass attack of at least 300 BIA against 112 Marines. The problem with that nonsense is that the Imam was only discovered on the morning of July 11th. IF the BIAF had been aware that he had been dead then why did they leave him lying face down in the mud overnight? Islam dictates that a corpse must be interred before the sun sets on that same day of death and above all else, a corpse is to be treated with the utmost respect. Of course with the BIAF at least (cough), that is reserved for Muslims alone. The last alibi, that the BIAF discovered an elderly cleric hogtied and mutilated, lying face down in the mud before 9AM on July 10th but didn't remove him from where they had found him until 7AM July 11th is just stupid. Nobody but a fool would believe such a thing EVEN IF they believed that the Marines, while waiting around for one of their vehicles to be towed just decided out of boredom to hogtie and mutilate an 86 year old man. Granted, the Philippine Military does have a rather gruesome track record (albeit for plausible scenarios such as covering operative errors or in extra-judicially neutralising- and yes, even torturing some of them- there was a Manila-based news team embedded with them and the cameras were rolling. Yet the MILF/BIAF and its several million syncophants managed to take that one single death, a death caused by the BIAF itself, and put the Government on the defencive when it was the BIAF initiated the entire affair. On Basilan, an island where no officially recognised MILF/BIAF camps exist, more than a kilometer from the 114 Base Command's 3rd Brigade's outter perimeter begins, 300-plus BIAF guerillas swarmed 115 men (including the newsteam) and after killing fourteen of them- an act the MILF freely admits to- then clearly were responsible for mutilating ten of the bodies...Yet it was the apathy of Filipino non-Muslims that truly permitted its own Government to quickly lose sight of the real picture.

President Arroyo catered to public sentiment by vowing to launch a five thousand man attack against the BIAF positions in Al Barka only to pull the plug at the last minute. Having scheduled this massive undertaking for July 31st, even shifting assets to staging grounds, on July 27th she agreed to MILF demands and signed an addendum to the July 23rd agreement that created the aforementioned Joint Independent Fact Finding Committee, or JIFFC. The Addendum, amazingly, barred both sides from issuing "inflammatory statements." On the surface the phrasing is innocuous but "inflammatory" is one of those subjective terms intended to shut down discourse. If for example, the Government stated that it was investigating reports that the Islamic cleric who prepared the elderly Imam's body for burial had claimed to have found clear indications that the deceased had been killed within the last 12 hours (per rigor mortis), this was declared as inflammatory by the MILF, etc. Even an even more innocuous statement about the confrontation's timetable that clearly showed that the Marines could not have possibly had the opportunity to kill him- without saying a word about the BIAF- was likewise deemed inflammatory and so naturally, only the MILF/BIAF then managed to get its message out there, how can the MILF be expected to rein in its army of dedicated (but officially unconnected) NGOs and Filipino Muslim students, all of whom went on the offencive. The Philippine Government, outside its official spokespeople, doesn't have very many people defending it.

Then, the same day that the addendum was signed, July 27th, President Arroyo "reluctantly" gave the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) three more days to "investigate" the incident in its parallel investigation. The CCCH was (and remains) the strongest facet in a four pronged Ceasefire support system. The Local Monitoring Team to which BIAF officer Sattar Ali belonged was a second facet, with the IMT (International Monitoring Team) and Ad Hoc Joint Advisory Group, or AHJAG, making up the rest of the support system. The CCCH itself is made up of two facets, one from the military, the other from the MILF/BIAF. Of course with half of the CCCH being composed of MILF/BIAF members it was inevitable that those three short days would turn into weeks of insufferable delays until even the Philippine Military lost its motivation and let the entire affair slip onto a back burner.


Although the entity, known as the Joint Independent Fact Finding Committee, or JIFFC, was to have three members from the military, three from the MILF/BIAF, and three from the bi-laterally approved NGO- that evtually ended up becoming the MILF sock puppet Bantay Ceasefire (Ceasefire Watch). Of the nine slots, six went to the opposition. I need to digress for a moment by saying that if you doubt that the NGO Bantay Ceasefire is an MILF partisan organisation try scouring its umpteenth media releases and incident reports as I have over the course of several years and try to find a single one that defended the military WHILE castigating the MILF or its military wing, the BIAF. Ostensibly an "independent" NGO the organisation has never found the MILF/BIAF to be at fault in any of its numerous investigations into the MILF/BIAF and AFP clashes that it has pretended to investigate.

Bantay Ceasefire founder and Chairperson, attorney Mary Ann Anado, is spending her life working through the Filipino version of White Liberal Guilt. Any Mindanowan Christian advocating for the MILF MoA-AD and its succesor, the "State:sub-State Assymetrical Government" is seriously deluded. The MILF are quite open in stating that within their envisioned "autonomous" Muslim territory, all residents will be ruled with an "Islamic character." What most non-Muslim Filipinos do not understand is that the Christian minority within that theoretical MILF-controlled territory will be relegated to a social class known as "al Dhimmi." Dhimmi are treated as subhuman. At best one could hope that the MILF would refine its vision and produce a system akin to that of the largest champion, the nation of Malaysia. Malaysia is a nation where Christians are imprisoned for even facilitating in the conversion of a Muslim but that is child's play for the convert themself since Islam mandates death for such things. Let us just say that life for Christians in any MILF controlled territory will be anything but attractive. More worrying? The MILF has its own Shari'a Court, or Islamically-based court, ans for nearly two decades now. It has administered capital punishment and has done so liberally but moreover has forbade affectations like tobacco smoking, alcohol, and fidicuary instruments that charge interest since all violate Islamic Law. Yet Mary Ann Anado is by far the most steadfast of Christians in supporting such a travesty. With Bantay Ceasefore and the MILF outnumbering the Government members of the JIFFC were outnumber by two to one in the Committee, with an even more dismal position in the JIFFC Secretariat.

As for the substance of the investigation itself- the MILF/BIAF's basic rationale, just as with the October 18th, 2011 tragedy- is that the military brought it upon itself because it entered an MILF-controlled territory without first co-ordination that entry via the CCCH or at least using one of the other three ceasefire support mechanisms:

1) AHJAG, the Ad Hoc Joint Assistance Group, meant to allow the Government to pursue criminal elements within MILF/BIAF-controlled territory

2) IMT, or International Monitoring Team, a third party mechanism led by Malaysian military personnel (no bias there, right? COUGH) but including other foreign governmental personnel as well

3) LMT, or Local Monitoring Teams, five person entities with again, Government, MILF/BIAF, and NGO members but with extencive local knowledge, experience, and connections.


If ONLY the Philippine Military hadn't rushed headlong into the MILF/BIAF's territory without letting it know first...EXCEPT THAT...In reality there are no recognised MILF/BIAF camps on Basilan. During the first phase of the MILF Peace Process, from 1997 to 2000 the Government inspected MILF/BIAF camps and officially declared them as ATSs, or Areas of Temporary Stay. All ATSs are on Mainland Mindanao. Whether or not a municipality on Basilan holds an MILF/BIAf camp, if it isn't an ATS the Government security forces CAN not only enter such towns and their barangays, but can enter BIAF camps at will although that will never happen under ordinary circumnstances simply because the BIAF will often use it as a pretext to attack AFP elements, but only if the BIAF believes it holds the upper hand in terms of manpower and firepower...as it did on July 10th, 2007...as it did on October 18th, 2011, and literally dozens of times before, after, and in between those dates. While it would have been sensible to go through the rigamorole of going through the CCCH to vet the operation on one level, if you are conducting a Search and Rescue operation for someone that has been kidnapped by the BIAF, you cannot notify the BIAF that you will be doing so, much less notify the BIAF of the date and time.

Then, the MILF,as noted earlier, jumped right onto the murder and attempted decapitation of the only civilian casualty, 86 year Imam Haji Matanul Hakim Alkanul. To boost their version of events they leaned on Al Barka's Mayor Karam Jakilan to produce some eyewitnesses concerning the Imam and his sad demise. Two witnesses suddenly surfaced:

1) Neneng Alkanul, 18 year old daughter of the dead cleric

2) sub-Kumander Asid Salih, Commander of the BIAF 114 Base Command's 2nd Brigade

Nenebg Alkanul said that she, her mother and other sisters had been inside their house, across from the father's mosque, and facing the road when the AFP Marine convoy passed by. Shortly thereafter Neneng saw two Marines approach her elderly father and ask for his assistance in dislodging the dumptruck that had gotten bogged down in the muddy road. According to Neneng her father agreed to help the Marines only to find himself used as a pack animal unloading ammunition and equipment out of the rear of the immobolised dumptruck. Neneng had walked across the yard to the mosque to watch the men struggling to free the truck but turned to go home after a small group of Marines had positioned themselves defencively at the rear of the mosque...and then...all of a sudden, a shot rang out causing her to run full speed into her house.

Sub-Kumander Asid Salih had been in Al Barka's Barangay Guinanta for a meeting at a madrassah (Islamic grammr/elementary school) with fourty-four of his guerillas and a contingent from the 3rd Brigade when he also heard that single gunshot. Scrambling he and his men quickly took positions along side the BIAF 3rd Brigade, the element with operational control over Barangay Guinanta. Not longer after that says Salih, the Imam approached him and they engaged in a short conversation although Salih has bever bothered to elaborate over what had been discussed, nor did the biased JIFFC bother to press him on the issue.

Interestingly, neither witness ever claimed to have seen the Imam with the Marines directly behind the mosque (where the man's body would later be discovered. Salih claims to have seen the Imam helping the Marines dislodge the dumptruck- corroborating the Imam's daughter Neneng's claim, and yet, unbeknost to either sub-Kumander Salih OR Neneng Alkanul there had been an embedded journalist and his camera team with the Marine convoy. The camera team filmed the effort to free the dumptruck from its commencement until the shortly after the sniper killed Sergeant Bautista, the first to have been killed that day, and kept right on filming through most of the battle. Not only was the Imam never seen in the footage, neither was any other civilian to be seen.

The main jist of the investigation was culpability in the mutilation and dismembering of ten of the fourteen Marined killed that day. The MILF predictably denied that the BIAF would do such a thing because Islam forbids it (that sure convinces me!). Due to a rash of beheadings by Abu Sayyaf many in the Government and the MILF-to say nothing of the public in general- automatically correlate any decapitation, indeed any barbaric act in Basilan with the Abu Sayyaf. The problem with that is that the MNLF/BMA has done these things all through the 1970s up until the present, as has the MILF/BIAF since its inception in 1977, literally dozens of times although not on so large a scale and in the case of the MILF/BIAF at least, the last known decapitation and mutilation had transpired four and a half years before. Sadly, in the age of television the average memory is stunted and four and a half years may as well be four and a half centuries as far as the general public is concerned.

In its own defence the BIAF luckily had Mayor Karam Jakilan of Al Barka along with his counterpart in the neighboring municipality of Tipo Tipo, Mayor Taher Esmael who together produced two witnesses:

1) Nasser Atao, BIAF, 3rd Brigade

2) Ajan "Jul" Sapii, a BIAF irregular and a close friend of Atao

After the BIAF had withdrawn and regrouped within the 3rd Brigade camp, just over one kilometer away from the remnants of the convoy, the JIFFC says, in reference to both these witnesses, that Nasser Atao realised he had "lost something" and somehow made his way back to the site of that day's fighting. No mention is made of how Ajan "Jul" Sapii ended up at what was left of the convoy and indeed the only mention of Sapii is that the JIFFC deems him "honest" and "beyond reproach." Very admirable qualities indeed but what did Mr.Sapii do to deserve the great confidence of the JIFFC? Their 14pp report tells us quite simply that Sapii "turned in an M16 rifle and an M203 grenade launcher that he had "recovered" at the smoldering wreckage of the Marine convoy. The JIFFC stresses the man is honest because it is only his and BIAF guerilla Nasser Atao's word of honour that "proves" that the gross mutilations and decapitations that took place were not committed by the MILF/BIAF, but by the Abu Sayyaf. The committee's report says that this honest man corroborates the more sculpted "testimony" of Nasser Atao. Indeed, if one actually reads the report they will find that Sapii admits that he did not see the Abu Sayyaf doing anything. All we really have is a BIAF guerilla (Nasser Atao) telling us that the BIAF didn't commit this atrocity.

What really happened?

Back at the BIAF 3rd Brigade camp Nasser Atao did in fact realise that he had "lost something" on the battle field. That something" though was his uncle, Ustadz Aris Andis, another guerilla. Turning to Sapii who by the way had been in the thick of the fighting as well, he asked for a ride back to what was left of the convoy on Sapii's motorcycle. Arriving back on the scene of the still burning dumptruck and the single M35 truck that had first attempted to tow the dumptruck out of the mud, Sapii was able to scavenge TWO M16s and TWO M203s. For those that aren't aware, the M203 is a symbiotic grenade launcher that is attached underneath the M16. Although technically a separate weapon in real world applications, if you capture and M16 with an M203 attached to it you are only credited with a single capture. This is a salient point because the JIFFC, fully aware of what I have just explained, claimed that Sapii is beyond reproach in his testimony because: He is a civilian...without asking how he even managed to acquire an M16 and M203. Most civilians look at dead bodies, smoldering military vehicles, and heavy weaponry and run the other way. Yet, Sapii takes two M16/M203s off of dead Marines, agrees to return ONE M16/M203 and we are supposed to admire his integrity?

Then, when one realises Sappi never saw Abu Sayyaf do anything and is only being used as a bait and switch with Nasser Atao who DOES claim to have witnessed four Abu Sayyaf, including two factional leaders:

1) Puruji Indama

2) Nurhassan Kallilut Jamiri



who, according to Atao's official narrative were bending over dead bodies and mutilating them using a "pirak," a traditional Yakan bladed weapon as ten Abu Sayyaf guerillas milled about playing pocket pool. Believing the men to be desecrating BIAF remains, including that of his missing uncle, Atao walked directly up to the four and it was only then that he saw they had been mutilating Marines instead. Truly the best the BIAF has to offer Nasser Atao "lectured" (Suuuuuure) the Abu Sayyaf leaders about how such desecration of fallen enemies is "haram," or prohibited by the Qur'an. According to Atao, the Abu Sayyaf didn't cotton to his message and one even wheeled around and drew down his M14 as if to shoot Atao but alas, our hero survived and after rejoining Mr.Sapii, who by this time had collected his war trophies, began the short drive back to 3rd Brigade camp where, co-ncidentally, his uncle turned up alive and well.

Now, according to both the JIFFC Report as well as to the CCH AND the MILF Central Committee Reports, it was only at 7AM the next morning, July 11th, that the BIAF first became aware of the atrocities committed against the fallen Marines. Weren't Nasser Atao and Jul Sappi aware of the atrocities at 630PM the night before? Would they really NOT report what they had seen knowing quite well that since the kills had already been credited to the BIAF with the MILF officially accepting responsibility for them? In other words, these two men, Atao undeniably being a BIAF guerilla who had taken part in that day's fighting, allow Abu Sayyaf to commit atrocities that would be pinned on him and his fellow BIAF? Of course he would have immediately spoken to someone about it either way having just almost having been shot. After all, didn't he just risk his life simply pointing out to the Abu Sayyaf that they shouldn't be doing that? Yet we are to believe that he then returned to camp and didn't make the BIAF leadership aware.

Of course Abu Sayyaf never came near those Marines. The BIAF committed those terrible deeds and that has always been known by the military and more than a few Government lackeys. Bowing to strategic objectives the military has allowed the MILF/BIAF to pull the wool over the eyes of Filipinos. It is funny, in a sick sort of way how the MILF/BIAF declares with a straight face that after three hundred BIAF and one hundred and sixty Marines (including the fourty-two at Magcawa Elementary School along with nine policemen) were still milling around that fourteen Abu Sayyaf including four factional leaders somehow managed to infiltrate the site and commit these acts AND THEN manage to slip away just as undetected! Moreover, conversely speaking, why should we believe Abu Sayyaf butchered Marines but did NOT butcher the 86 year old Imam? IF Abu Sayyaf was able to infiltrate the site in clandestine fashion they could have certainly managed to hogtie and murder the elderly cleric. Of course the BIAF murdered the elderly Imam as well. Sub-Kumander Salih ignorantly admitted that the Imam had been peeved enough to approach him at the height of the fighting. According to several BIAF guerillas the Imam demanded that Salih and the 3rd Brigade's sub-Kumander Limaya immiediately stop fighting and pull back, angered over the BIAF's decision to attack the Marines directly opposite his home and mosque.

In the end the MILF was able to obtain so many extensions and delays that the incident rapidly receded from public consciousness. Three weeks later there would be fifteen Marines killed in another BIAF attack that was the military's fault (according to the sparkling clean MILF). Still, one hundred and nine arrest warrants had been taken out against a host of BIAF members, most of whom happened to conveniently be named "John Doe" )I didn't know "John Doe" was a popular name amongst Muslims as well!). One whose name DID appear was a man who never fired a single bullet that day, sub-Kumander Ustadz Haji Asnawi Hassan "Laksaw" Addan Salah, known to pals as Abu Mazen but to the rest of us unlucky wretches as sub-Kumander Dan Laksaw Ansawi, the 114 Base Command's second in command. While not a prime target of the investigation Asnawi earned himself a warrant none the less.

Fast forward to the Autumn of 2009. Sattar Ali? The Local Monitoring Team Representative who just happened to also be a BIAF sub-Kumander? He went down in a hail of Marine bullets after occupying a town on Basilan, in a firefight that managed to kill another five Marines. Sub-Kumander Asnawi decided to treat one of his four wives to a trip to Saudi Arabis so that she might fufill the obligation incumbent upon all adult Muslims and undertake a pilgramage (al Haj) to the cities of Mecca and Medina. Boarding a Manila-bound plane at Zamboanga City's airport the couple readied themselves for the firsr leg of what should have been a long voyage when a joint detachment of soldiers and PNP SAF (Philippine National Police Special Action Force) runined Mr. And Mrs.Asnawi's day as well as their trip by arresting the sub-Kumander on a warrant for the Al Barka incident. Bundled off the plane Asnawi was returned to Basilan where he was lodged in the provincial jail in Isabela.

I will continue with the third and last part in this "Prequel" entry on the October 18th, 2011 Al Barka incident.