As I noted in my previous entry ("Abu Sayyaf Interdiction, First Quarter 2011") the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) would appear to some as if it has finally been making much needed headway against ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group). It has roped in several high profile arrests in the most notorious incidents ("Sipadan Island," "Dos Palmas," Siege of Lamitan" and "Golden Harvest Plantation") and has finally moved forward in the assasination of Congressman Wahab Akbar in the 2007 bombing of the Congressional Complex that killed Rep.Akbar and 4 others.
As the AFP readied itself to go mano a mano with ASG on Basilan LGUs (Local Govt. Units, barangay, town, city and provincial govts.) in the Visayas (Central Philippines) began getting very nervous about the possibility of ASG heading north to their shores. Though historically in the early Spanish Era Muslims would indeed push north, raping, pillaging and enslaving as they moved through the islands, in the present its not likely to happen. ASG goes no further north than the Zamboanga Peninsula (excepting its infamous and singular foray into Palawan in 2001) and even then it does so only out of absolute necessity, the Sulu archipelago being their preferred destination. As if unsteady nerves weren't bad enough, AFP Intelligence warned of an impending attack in Negros, Bohol and/or Siquijor Islands. On January 03, 2011 Intelligence had warned of a large detachment of ASG leaving Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Norte Province and heading to Negros Oriental Province on the island of Negros. A week later, after the first warning amounted to nothing, ASG was said to be departing Zamboanga City in Zamboanga del Norte Province en route to Dumaguete on Negros Island. On January 14 the attack was said to be impending on Bohol Island. The Alert ended February 01.
January 07 five members of ASG were charged in the "Camp Asturias Chapel" bombing that took place during Xmas Mass in 2010, wounding 11 people including 2 Roman Catholic priests. The 5 charged are;
1) Alhabsy Misaya
2) Dodong Tarik
3) Sali Sa'id
4) Arola (epnonymously named)
5) Gafur (epononymously named)
Number 3, Sali Sa'id, was nabbed on February 01,as I discussed in my previous entry. He was on Chinese Wharf in Jolo City shortly after disembarking from am inter-island ferry.
On January 09,2011 a group of ASG under sub-Kumander Patti Kabulot of the Jamiri Faction ambushed the AFP in Barangay Baguindan, Tipo Tipo on Basilan Island. 2 guerillas were killed in the 45 minute fire fight, one of which was Kabulot himself. A third was captured alive along with two M16s and one RPG, along with two RPG shells.
January 14, in Sitio Fuente, Barangay Sapa Bulag, Sumisip on Basilan Island, Cpl.Haber Akil of the 32IB (32nd Infantry Battalion) was en route to Tumahubong from Isabela City on a motorcycle while on duty. A sniper took his life with a shot to the chest.
January 19, in Sitio Kurellem, Barangay Silangkum, Tipo Tipo on Basilan Island, ASG Factional Leader Nurhusin Jamiri was with at least 50 gunmen when the 4th Scout Rangers Battalion, COY (Company) 13 accidentally found him while scouring the sector. In the ensuing fire fight 1 Scout Ranger was critically wounded and died after being helicoptered out to Zamboanga City for treatment.
January 21 in Barangay Macalang, al Barka, the 4th Scout Rangers Battalion entered a recently abandoned ASG Camp where they discovered 2 IEDs (though not primed as booby traps, merely being stored after manufacture), 50 grammes of ammonium nitrate (an ingredient in IED payloads) and 14 rounds of M60 (large crew fired weapon) ammunition. The camp wad comprised of 4 "nipas" (single roomed bamboo framed palm thatched huts, the average home in the Philippines) that could have held 20 men. The camp was discovered by accident during a scour (meter by meter search within established co-ordinates).
Barangay Maclang is 1 of several al Barka barangays whose residents have fled en masse during the afore mentioned tactical push against ASG. Roughly 6,000 IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons, aka"Refugees") from Barangays Macalang, Danapa and Ka'ilih took refuge in and around Danapa Elementary School in the barangay of the same name. As Febuary began the AFP and LGU (Local Government Unit tried their best to persuade the terrified villagers to go back to their homes and farms but to no avail. Almost all refused to move back home or even tend their farms for as long as the AFP continued its tactical operations in the town.
On February 12 in Barangay Baiwas in Sumisip, Basilan, the 4th Scout Rangers Battalion launched a direct assault on the camp of ASG sub-Kumander Juhaiber"Abu Kiks"Alamsirul of the Janatul Faction. The operation, which began at daybreak was difficult as the camp clings to a very steep mountainside but was deemed high priority after receiving intelligence that the factional leader, Kumander Radzmil Janatul had stayed there overnight with 30 of his best men. A single platoon under Captain Daet was all that Task Force Headquarters could muster on such short notice though all things considered, a platoon of Scout Rangers are worth at least 2 companies of regular AFP Infantrymen (a platoon averages 30 men while a company nets 100 to 120 men). The attack lasted until 3 hours, until 730AM and left 2 soldiers dead, 5 wounded. Upon ASG withdrawing the Scout Rangers entered the camp and secured it, discovering 7 earthen bunkers.
On March 06 in Barangay Santa Barbara, Isabela City, Basilan, PNP PO1 (PNP officers are ranked by a 1,2 or 3 depending upon their seniority, with "1" being the lowest rank equivalent to a "Private" in the Army,with "PO" signifying "Police Officer") Dennis Aquino, Barangay Captain Noel Mirasol and 3 Barangay Kagawads (Barangay Councillors) were walking through the barangay when they were ambushed by snipers. Mirasol and Aquino were critically wounded as the 3 Barangay Kagawads returned fire and killed 2 of the gunmen, epononymously named Baljubir and Nadjar.Though the officials were Cebuanos and Chavacanos (non-Muslim) and the gunmen were Muslim there are rumours that this didn't involve ASG per se and wasn't even political in nature. Aquino and Mirasol are said to be neck deep in the drug trade and since this is the Southern Philippines "drugs" are synonymous with "Shabu," highly pure smokable methamphetamine.
March 09, an IED placed inside a triksiad (ubiqitous form of Philippine public transport constructed out of a motorcycle dirt bike with an aluminum body constructed around it, inside of which there are 2 bench seats hold passengers) detonated as a group of triksiads idled in front of the Sulu Peovincial Board of Education building in Jolo City, on Jolo Island. The blast, timed for afternoon rush hour killed 5 drivers and wounded 11, including passerby. The blast seems to have been aimed for a PNP transport carrying a detachment of SAF (Special Action Force, the PNP's Special Operations element) which had just passed by when detonation occurred. The group of drivers were parked against the fence around Salih Ututalum Elementary School where 2 men were immediately killed. The other 3 deaths occurred during treatment at a nearby hospital. The initial 2 fatalities are unidentifiable because of the damage to their bodies from the powerful blast. The 3 men who died during treatment are:
1) Habir Sabri
2) Abdulmajid Ibrahim
3) Aleson Ma'ing
On that same day, March 09 the AFP threw all progress they had made thus far in 2011 out the proverbial window when they played the "Keystone Cops, Philippine Style" in an episode we will call, "Sacol Island: Whose on First?" In a Top Secret Operation so hush hush that Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin had no idea it was even planned, never mind dumbfounded LGUs who have been railing against this breech of protocol.
Acting upon intelligence that ASG-Basilan Factional Leader Khair Mundos was ensconced on an isolated tract on Sacol Island, possibly wit the other major factional leader on Basilan, Nurhusin Jamiri, the AFP's TF Basilan launched a massive air/amphibious operation. Using Hueys (helicopters) to insert Airborne soldiers from 3rd Special Forces Battalion, covered by 2 MG-529s (helicopter gunships) on the far side of the very small islet. On the tract where ASG was supposed to be dug in, those Gun Ships softened the ground with 8 missiles launched as the soldiers were scouring from the other coast. The problem however is that that ASG "camp"? The one containing Khair Mundos and Nurhusin Jamiri? It was an empty mangrove. If ASG had ever been there they weren't now. Sadly it took the AFP NINE HOURS to discover they were killing...a...MANGROVE. I need to also add that the missile strikes were supposed to be kilometers away from the nearest civilians but residents of Barangay Landang Laum note that the strikes hit mere meters from their village which abuts that mangrove. Perhaps the AFP should be happy people are laughing at them as opposed to calling them "mass murderers."
March 17 the AFP seems to have caught with its pants down AGAIN. Scout Rangers set a cross fire ambush along a main road to try and interdict ASG. It ended up instead critically wounding a PNP (Pgilippine National Police) officer who was operating a motorcycle and his civilian passenger. In its own defence the Scout Ranger Team in question claimed it had thought the motorcycle was carrying Barangay Captain Nat Haddalam, a member of ASG. In other words, the AFP's elite units see the need to lay a cross fire ambush rather than to try and LAWFULLY stop and arrest the subject they were after. Even more disgustingly, both men on the motorcycle were shot in the back!
On Saturday, March 19 off of Menes Island, part of the island municipality of Hadji Panglima Tahil, formerly known as "Marunggas," yet another case of "Ambak Pare" took place. The phrase is Cebuano and idiomatically is akin to, "You better jump dude!" It denotes piracy, almost always by ASG, where if you aren't kidnapped you are told, "Ambak Pare!" It is prevalent on Mindanao's southwestern coast and Zamboanga Peninsula. Less often it happens like Saturday's case, in the Sulu archipelago and Tawi Tawi, the Philippines' southern most island. This last case revolved around the typical ASG extortion aimed at small to medium sized fishing companies. The vessel "M/V Mega VIII" was manned by 3 men, who are missing:
1) Captain Renato Panisales
2) Wennie Ferrer
3) Jonald Ocsimar
The 3 men were initially believed to have been killed but 2 days after their disappearance the Jamiri Jawari Faction of ASG made contact with the fishing company and demanded 10 Million Pesos in Ransom. From then until March 31 nothing else was known though the AFP concentrated its search in and around the factional territory near the municipality of Patikul on Jolo Island. On the day in question, March 31, the military entered an outlying barangay within Patikul and came under fire from Abu Sayyaf. During intence fighting the AFP killed 3 guerillas but failed to sight the 3 captives. When ASG withdrew from the village 50 minutes later the soldiers found the Seaman Book (a work permit issued to maritime workers) issued to the fishing boat captain, Renato Panisales. As for the island municipality where this incident initially took place, took place, Hadji Panglima Tahil, the town is spread out over several tiny islets and is an MNLF-Misuari Faction stronghold now mainly populated by MNLF guerillas who sought land after the 1996 Final Peace Agreement. Led by Kumander Elol Salim, the 417 guerillas now put their energy into an abalome co-operative and a seaweed farming operation funded by ELAP (Emergency Livlihood Assistance Program) and its evolved form, LEAP (Livlihood Enhancement and Peace Pogrsmme). LEAP is funded by USAID's GEM (Growth with Equity in Mindanao), a programme meant to help de-programme MNLF guerillas.
On Monday, March 21 ASG's Jamiri Faction kidnapped yet another person on Basilan Island. At 130 AM Rolando de la Cruz, caretaker for "Cawley Resturant" on Aguinaldo Street, Barangay Matibay, Lamitan City, was checking for intruders after his dogs began barking excitedly. As the 44 year old man stepped into the compound he was confronyed by ASG guerillas under sub-Kumander Ustadz Salim Tado. The kidnapper's forced de la Cruz into his own vehicle and sped off in the direction of that city's Barangay Bulanting. It was in that barangay's Sitio Libi that the SUV was found on fire. However, by early that evening the 32IB had brought that band of guerillas to heel and rather than be caught themselves the kidnappers simply release Mr.de la Cruz. It is a standard ASG diversionary tactic and for better or for worse there is an unwritten but well understood rule between the AFP and ASG. IF ASG releases a kidnapping victim without having harmed him or her the AFP allows a route for escape and does not attack. After being released by ASG in Barangay Sinulatan, Tuburan at 520PM the 32IB gave the kidnappers an hour to fully withdraw and so they recovered the victim alive and well at 620PM.
Ironically the kidnapping coincides with US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr's visit to the region. Arriving in Zamboanga City on the March 21 he will next head across the strait to Basilan and then to Jolo City where he will take part in a ceremony marking the US grant of more than 1 million US Dollars (23,000 Pesos) to local NGO, "LPDR" (Literacy for Peace and Development).
March 28, 2011 saw the closure of a case that had been vexing Philippine authorities for almost a decade. Javanese bomb expert Umar"Mike"Patek of the Indonesian terrorist organisation Jemaya'a Islamiyya ("JI"). Having been arrested by Pakistan's "Inter-Services Intelligence Agency" on information provided by the CIA (American Intelligence, isn't THAT an oxymoron?).For nearly a decade JI and ASG have been nearly synonymous with one another, ever since the aftermath of JI's "Bali Bombing." Patek, and by extension JI's first involvement with ASG first took place in 1995 when he arrived in Mindanao to relieve Nasir bin Abas as the CO (Commanding Officer" of JI's "Mantiki III," the label applied to the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Southern Thailand and Brunei. In 1999 he returned to Jakarta and assumed a leadership role as the group began laying the ground work needed for the "Bali Bombing." The attack, which eventually transpired in 2002. The act killed 202 people, nearly half of them Australian, and thereby turned JI into the posterboy of SE Asian Terrorism. An international manhunt began with several relatively high ranking members choosing to capitalise on a long standing relationship with Mindanao and the Muslims living here. It was a natural thing to do given the common Malay ancestry, common physical appearance and of course, a common faith.
JI members like Patek, and his brother-in-law Joko"Dulmatin"Pitoyo originally came to teach at an MILF "academy" in a now defunct jungle stronghold, "Camp Hudaibiyah." Located in Pawas, Maguindanao, it trained MILF, ASG AND JI members. It was in Hudaibiyah that the 2 JI leaders would cultivate relationships and teach both ASG AND MILF members how to manufacture technically proficient IEDs.
After the bombing in Bali, in 2002, the Indonesian authorities, aided by Australian law enforcement began a relentless manhunt for not only the bombers but all Islamo-fascists in general. Patek decided to travel with Dulmatin north to Mindanao. With authorities all over the region on the look out this latest trip would have to take place off the grid; The Southern Philippines (Mindanao and its outlying island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi Tawi) have regional agreements concerning unfettered travel between ialands, regardless of international borders. One can take a ferry, freighter or fishing boat between Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. There is no need for Immigration OR Customs, one simply disembarks and isn't questioned or impeded. Still, it takes a bit of knowhow in choosing which craft from whatever port and so the duo had an acquaintance from the Islamo-fascist organisation "Darul Islam" to guide them on their journey north. The man chosen, Arham (a.k.a."Arnoldl) was a . Arriving in mid-2003 the duo immediately returned to Maguindanao Province and Camp Hudaibiyah.
Though their old protector, the MILF's Kumamder Abu Badrin Badruddin welcomed the 2 men back to Central Mindanao things had changed drastically. Since the Indonesians had left in 1999 the MILF had been badly beaten, almost to the point of destruction, during then President Estrada's "All Out War on the MILF." The war, in 2000, had been precipitated by an attack by an MILF unit on the town of Kauswagan in Lanao del Norte Province. Occupying the Christian town in a show of strength the MILF hadn't been aware that that AFP AOR (Area of Responsibility) had received a Brigade strength deployment of Marines just 4 hours prior. Without even unpacking their kitbags the Marines rushed to Kauswagan from their new base in Cagayan del Oro City in the adjacent province of Misamis Oriental and freed the town by midnite. From that quick victory Estrada, capitalising on its momentum added 2 entire Infantry Divisions and in a pincer move began advancing up Narciso Ramos National Hiway from both its terminuses, clearing all MILF positions as they went. Within 3 months the government forces reached Camp Abubakar, the MILF nerve center, and leveled it. So total was the victory that Estrada himself hurried south by private jet and then helicoptered into Camp Abubakar in order to personally host a pigroast and beerbash. Edtrada's choice of refreshments being highly symbolic in what was here to fore a bastion of Islamic Power on the island. The President swilling beer and chewing pork cracklings in the MILF Central Mosque had its intended effect, the MILF almost collapsed.
In the nearly 3 years since, MILF Kumanders like Badruddin had reorganised their forces into highly mobile formationd known as "Base Commands" and operated without much of a power structure above them. This essentially meant that Patek and Dulmatin were incredibly vulnerable despite Camp Hudaibiyah having managed to survive largely unscathed within the impenetrable Ligusan Marsh. Within months of the pair's arrival the MILF came under intense political pressure from the Philippine Government.
In the Philippines it is the military that runs the country. Though Estrada's guidance had led to a massive victory for the AFP in the 2000 War, his corruption had reached epic proportions. This became the impetus for a strong faction within the Army to forment a coup to install then Vice President Gloria M.Arroyo in the Presidential Palace. Almost immediately after seizing power President Arroyo sought to solidify her position by reaching a Peace Agreement with at least 1 of the several insurgencies plagueing the nation. She decided that the MILF presented the strongest chance for a successful outcome. After enlisting the aid of Malaysia to Facilitate these Talks she and the MILF began aggressively negotiating. Just after the Indonesian's arrival in Mindanao the Philippine Government turned its attentions towards Camp Hudaibaya after Australian Intelligence ascertained that members of Indonesian terror groups (JI, Darul Islam, KOMPAK) and leaned on the MILF to shutter the encampment.
It was in mid-2004 then that Patel and Dulmatin took refuge with the Khadaffi Janjalani Faction of ASG on Basilan. On Basilan the conditions were deplorable, trekking deep in the isolated bush, always being pursued by the AFP and so by 2005 they had sailed south with part of the Janjalani Faction, taking refuge on Jolo Island with the Sadhiron Faction of ASG. From that point there are highly conflicting reports on his whereabouts. Readers might recall that in my ASG entry for the last quarter of 2010 that pundits were getting hot and bothered as they challenged each others' view concerning Patek's latest whereabouts. Some thought he was still in Sulu Province, others in Tawi Tawi Province (supported by a video of him there though not dated in any way), while others had him in Pakistan. Lo and behold, Pakistan was correct. No word on who gets to collect a 10 Million US Bounty.
Finally this quarter, just after New Year, skeletal remains of a decapitated male waa found in a cave in the hills above Tipo Tipo, in that municipality's Barangay Kabug Pababag. Forensics are being formed with American assistance to try and determine the identity of the deceased.
Showing posts with label Sipidan Island. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sipidan Island. Show all posts
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Abu Sayyaf for the 4th Quarter of 2010: Abu Sayyaf Hates Christmas...I Mean Christians (Oooops)
I have been so preoccupied with the NPA Ceasefire lately that I almost neglected to mention the latest happenings from everybodys' favourite Islamo-fascists, the ASG, or the Abu Sayyaf Group. Of course there is no real chance of me doing that when Xmas rolls around. Just as the NPA has its cute little quirks that revolve around the calendar, so does the ASG. There are two times of year when the smart money is on the Abu Sayyaf grabbing some media attention. The first of those two times is Valentines Day, February 14th. While most Filipinos are keeping busy as they immerse themselves (and their pocketbooks) in the wonderfully stupefying stench of crass Western consumerism, those intellectually stunted fellows at ASG are deciding which community of Christians to terrorise. The second time of the year as I did mention, is Xmas Eve (Noche Buena in the Philippines) and Xmas Day (Pasko).
The obvious raison d'etre would be that the Philippines is a traditionally Catholic Nation and those two days are Catholic Holy Days (albeit days that have been twisted into plastic carticatures of themselves by greeting card companies, florists, etc. The Abu Sayyaf began life as a truly textbook example of Islamo-fascism. Abdurajak Janjalani, its main founder, was deeply committed towards an ideological end game which involved capturing all Philippine territory and the imposition of an Islamic political system. Although the scope is different, just to point out, the MILF and ASG aren't too far removed from each other in this main objective. Both Janjalani and the MILF's late founder Hashim Salamat saw politics and religion as inseparable. Put succinctly...
I) The purpose of humankind (in Islam its actually "mankind") is to honour the deity (Allah).
II) In order to properly honour the deity, humankind must congregate (the more the merrier so to speak).
III) When humans congregate they inevitably need a political system.
Another way to understand this rather simplistic proposition is to consider it thus: The purpose of political systems is to optimise humankind's ability to honour the deity. Ergo Islam is the endgame of any political system and there is absolutely no differentiation between so called "Church" and "State." "Ibada," as it is known in Arabic (ergo "in the Islamic worldview"), denotes the obesiance to Allah in all things. Proper Ibada requires an "Ummah," (a community of Muslims), and ANY community needs rules (aka "a political system"). The result is an unbroken circle of, Allah-Muslim-Allahs Law (aka "Shari'a"), THE perfect political system.
Though identical on this point, what I will call "form of governance," Janjalani and Salamat differed as to
"content of form." Both agreed that it should be based on the very basic Islamic principle of "Shura, (Arabic for "Consultative," which is identical to both mens' tribal perspectives as well. Salamat was a Maguindanowan Tribesman, Janjalani was a Yakan Tribesman though his mother was an Ilonggo, I'm sure her parents were just thrilled with how she turned out). They even agreed on the process to achieve this, the "Majlis" (Arabic word denoting an assembly of knowledgeable clerics). Where they differed was in scope. Janjalani saw no compromise and envisioned the Philippines as part of a worldwide system. His vision was devoid of etno-nationalism where as that of Salamat was not only deeply rooted in it, it absolutely revolved around the fantasy of, "Bangsamoro." The Bangsamoro is a non-existent People on par intellectually with the belief that "Palestinians" constituted an actual People prior to 1948. I use this analogy because just as with "Palestinians" one sees the manufacturing of not only an entire ethnicity but also a manufactured historical narrative that could not exist without a manufactured foil. With "Palestinians" this of course would be Zionists, and with the "Bangsamoro" this would be the... "Filipino." The parallels are very deep but I fear allowing such tangents to hijack what I hoped would be a relatively simple screed (hahaha, Shandyesque as always. Hey what good is a Blog if I can't use it to marry obscure political analogies, obscure literary references and obscure witticisms? Yay to obscurity!).
Salamat, like any capable leader, was a pragmatist to a large degree. Where Janjalani rooted himself in an extremist position out of utter conviction Salamat did so only in order to obtain and utilise an advantageous bargaining position. Once Salamt realised that Misuari's MNLF would leave Central Mindanowan Muslims (Maguindanowans, Maranaw, Iranun and Kagan Tribes) as marginalised as they had always been he used Islam as the ideological vehicle with which to differentiate his clque within the MNLF (basically the MNLF's "Kutawato Regional Committee" that Salamat had Chaired since the Committee's inception shortly after the MNLF was founded). It took a solid 5 years before the MILF was able to truly assert itself as an organisation independently of the MNLF (it left the MNLF in 1976 and formally declared itself extant in 1981). By the time the MILF was fully opetational Salamat had already, internally, abandoned the primary objective of a fully independent homeland, as well as the unilateral imposition of a universal system of Shari'a (Islamic Law). ASG could never compromise ideologically and this in turn led the organisation (actually there is no "organisation" at this point) to wallow in its current state of milquetoast mediocrity.
Enter, stage left, the actual reason why I began this long winded (hey, its a lot better than "foul winded") screed; The ASG and its propencity for violence on Valentines and Xmas. If you spent every Xmas sucking down boiled rice and cassava while your Christian neighbours got toys, candy and a luxurious meal I reckon you would have some issues as well (my chief complaint about the internet is that it is impossible to convey sarcasm, as I am so failingly attempting to do now). How else to rationalise what took place on Jolo Island early Xmas morning?
At 710AM Xmas morning, Father Bacolol was in the middle of performing Mass for roughly 100 worshipers at Evangelical
Chapel when an IED (Improvised Explosive Device, aka "Bomb") detonated, wounding 11 worshippers. The device had been planted in between panels of the corrugated tin roof 3 meters from the right corner of the altar. Authorities are quite perplexed as to how the device was set because the chapel, in Jolo City's Barangay Asturias, sits smack dab in the middle of Camp Asturias, the Provincial PNP (Philippine National Police) installation. Also worth noting is that this compound is now guarded by Marines from 3rd Brigade's Recon (Reconaissance) Company. The Marines were deployed on December 22nd after the head priest, Father Romeo Villanueva, received a tip from a parishoner that the chapel was to be targetted. 1 possibility of course is that the IED was set prior to the Marine deployment. Another is that it was not an ASG action at all but rather an attention seeking act. I tend to believe the latter because the IED had no shrapnel payload (ASG usually includes sheetrock nails to do real damage, at least they don't use shredded razor blades as is done in the Middle East). The eleven wounded people were injured by building debris as the roof came down.
Also on Xmas, at 5AM, four men escaped from the Sulu Provincial Jail by breaking through their communal cell's antiquated ceiling. Of course the two guards on duty did not hear a thing. PNP Officers (the Philippines has no real correctional system and certainly has no specially trained guards. Wardens and most officials involved in that dynamic are entirely political appointees who receive that position in quid pro quo arrangements) PO1 Renomhar Undangan and PO1 Algamar Sahiron have been suspended pending the requisite investigation (I could add, "for not sharing their considerable bribe" but am trying to run a relatively serious Blog, work with me). If you notice the surname of that second police officer, Sahiron, a light bulb MAY suddenly go on and all things will become clear. No? The Sahiron Clan is neck deep in ASG with Clansman Radullan Sahiron serving as the major factional leader in Sulu.
One of the four men who escaped, Sulaiman Muin, was incarcerated for the IED attack against Sulu's Governor, Abdusakur Tan, on May 13, 2009. The attack on Governor Tan was one of two bombings directed against him in a 15 month time period. The second attack was the bombing at Zamboanga City Airpoty, which I will briefly discuss below.
The May 13 attack took place just as the governor's motorcade left the capitol complex in Patikul, en route to Sakur's residential compound for the mid-day meal. At roughly 1215PM a parked motorcycle rigged with a powerful IED just as Tan's SUV passed it. Thanks to a stroke of luck the governor merely suffered superficial injuries when the vehicle was lifted off the ground. Mayor Hatta Berto of Pandami was among the 9 individuals who were more seriously wounded, including 2 soldiers and 1 PNP officer in different vehicles.
The attempt was committed by ASG members but had been contracted by unknown parties. Ergo, some very important and powerful people have a lot to lose if the facts ever reach the light of day. Officially, Tan's political arch nemesis, NGO Chairman Cocoy Tulawie was blamed (as he was in the 2nd attempt as well) but the real culprit could be any one of a number of people. I will save the pondering for an entry devoted to the governor that I have been planning for awhile.
The 2nd attack, on August 05, 2010 took place just a couple of meters from the exit of Zamboanga City Airport's terminal. As Governor Tan, his son and a couple of close friends left the terminal after a flight from Manila, a man identified as Reynaldo Apilado of Zamboanga City's Barangay Maasin stepped towards him and detonated his back pack . Originally it was pegged as a so called "Suicide Bombing" but upon investigation a second theory emerged, one in which Mr. Apilado was given a backpack, the contents of which were unknown to him. The widowed, unemployed carpenter was simply instructed to "give it" to a 2nd individual. Standing outside the airport terminal Mr. Apilado was none the wiser when the "consignee" walked out the sliding glass doors.
Killed along with Mr. Apilado was his companion (or according to this 2nd theory, his "minder"), Hatamil Yakob, 30, of Barangay Baluk-Baluk, Lantawan, Basilan Island. Wounded were 24 civilians though the Philippine Media being what it is, only 1 of the 24 (not including Governor Tan and son) merited special notice, an elderly British expat living in the city with his young Filipina lover. Governor Tan was only moderately wounded with mostly superficial cuts on the left side of his abdomen, from Mr. Apilado's bone fragments. Supporting the afore mentioned 2nd theory, that Apilado had no idea he was part of a bombing plot was the fact that he detonated as he was facing the governor. The bomb in the backpack was absorbed by his Apilado's own body. Had he been intent on harming the governor he would have certainly been standing with his back towards the him or else facing him with the backpack slung over an arm, held in front of him, etc. Again, for brevity's sake I am omitting a lot of information that I will include in the entry devoted to Governor Tan.
Now here the story on the "Jail Escape" takes a turn that should really make things clear for you: It only took a few hours to get a bead on 3 of the 4 escapees. The 4th, Salipalo Pulalon, had left his 3 comrades as soon as they cleared the jail compound. The PNP team hunting the escapees, led by Inspector Abdulgafur Sahiron (notice the surname again) managed to sight the 3 men who remained together late Sunday evening, December 26. The OFFICIAL version of events is that of the 3, Sulaiman Muin refused to surrender. As the team moved towards Muin to subdue him the escapee grabbed for Inspector Sahiron's weapon. Naturally he was shot to death...with every shot in his back.
The other 2 escapees on scene, Khadaffy Askalani (carthief) and Nadzmir Amirul (I will explain his case) were returned to the Provincial Jail without further incident. Nadzmir Amirul has got to be 1 of the stupidest men on Jolo. He was in jail not because of any crime but because he had been threatened and the island has no sort of effective protection. The country itself only implemented its 1st Witness Protection Programme this year and seeing as to what happened with the first witness in the Ampatuan Case ("Maguindanao Massacre") when he trusted in it I don't think many Filipinos will allow themselves to be enrolled. I will spare those sordid details and instead save them for a series of Ampatuan related entries I plan to do as well. Even more ironically though, while Amirul wasn't in jail for a crime prior to his escape, he is now. Yep, poor Amirul has been charged for breaking out of the jail where he had been incarcerated WITHOUT charges.
On December 21, 2010 the Malaysian Government finally had to eat crow. Ever since 2 Malaysian-Chinese had been kidnapped by ASG in February 08, 2010, the Malaysians have been denying what everyone (regionally) knew, that ASG had managed ONCE AGAIN to enter Malaysian territory at will. The 2 men, Lai Wong Chun, 46, and Chen Yui Chung, 48 had been grabbed from a seaweed farm off of Pulao Sebangkit Island, which is itself off of Borneo's Sabah State. I have mentioned in my last MILF entry how Sabah is a contested territory and that the same ethnicities one finds here in the Southern Philippines are also sometimes found in Sabah. Ergo, people come and go at will travelling between 4 regional nations (Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and in isolated cases Brunei as well). There are little known regional agreements that allow residents to do this without even having to show a school ID, let alone a passport and visa. Of course this is exploited by terrorists and smugglers but in truth it really doesn't matter because there are literally many thousands of islands in the region and scant ability to police them. The larger number of ASG guerillas are Tausug Tribesmen whose modern origin lies on Jolo Island, in Sulu Province. However, more Tausug live in Sabah than in all islands of the Philippines combined. ASG will be in Sabah as long as ASG exists.
The 2 men, cousins from Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, were originally taken to Tawi Tawi, the southern most province in the Philippines and part of Mindanao, administratively. Due to the international nature of the offence little had been stated about this case, and despite what Malaysia may state publicly, it was no secret that they landed on Bonggao, Tawi Tawi. From there as pressure ebbed and flowed they were shuttled between islands in Sulu until finally this month, December, 2010, they returned to Bonggao. PNP SAF (Police Special Action Force, the PNP Special Force) laid an effective cordon around the sector in which the band of 10 ASG gueriilas had encamped. The official story is that the captors, under Kumander Ahmad fled knowing that they were surrounded and left their quarry in a standard diversionary tactic. In reality though, the PNP made a deal, leave the 2 victim and you are free to go. This is almost always the outcome in those rare instances when the PNP (or AFP, Armed Forces of the Philippines) manages to actually locate an encampment. Kidnappers tend to operate in the most economically depressed areas. They make big money, the biggest in a given area and as you see with the Sahiron Clan, are often the same legal authorities victims rely on to help protect them. Even when that is not the case, an AFP, or PNP Jr. Officer leading a detachment can have his career ruined if a captive is killed during a rescue attempt. Conversely, a kidnap victim rescued alive and well can make one's entire career depending upon the status (or nationality) of the victim(s). Therefore it behooves the young officer to play the game just so. The AFP oversees security in any insurgency prone area. AFP SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) requires notification to and coordination with an LGU (Local Government Unit, aka "municipality"). Even when LGU executives aren't actually related to kidnappers they are still going to be very susceptible to bribery (the "Siege of Lamitan" is a textbook example of the problems I am briefly discussing).
Indeed, the very same thing happened for a 2nd time this week in the case of young Tsinoy (Filipino-Chinese, aka "Chinoy") Kenn "Kenny" Klefford Lao. I mentioned the 21 year old college student's case in a recent KFR ( Kidnap for Ransom) entry A 1st year student at Notre Dame College in Jolo City, on Jolo Island in Sulu Province he stupidly left the safety of his campus on October 07, 2010 to meet an anonymous text mate (I explained just what that is in that entry I mentioned) but he was instead waylaid by ASG guerillas who kidnapped him. He was "freed" on December 22, 2010 when again, a PNP SAF cordon was laid down around an isolated settlement in Sitio Kabbon, Barangay Langhob, in the town of Indanan. Only guarded by 2 young men at that point, the 2 abandoned their delightful meal of boiled rice and cassava (excuse me, I have to retch) and skedaddled to wherever ASG go when they are not making the world miserable. Kenny recognised the "opportunity" and ran for dear life,... Until he collided with an ensconced PNP SAF asset in a sniper blind (camoflauged site for snipers to conceal themselves in).
The 3rd ASG kidnap victim to find freedom this week is also a person I discussed in a recent KFR entry; 60 year old widow Rosabella "Rose" Barranda was returning to her home in Barangay Tumahubong, Sumisip, Basilan Island aboard a jeepney (puic transportation) from a Bible study group in the town of Lamitan when ASG gunmen from the Nurhasan Jamiri Faction kidnapped her at a checkpoint. Though she owns a small general store on a rubber plantation she struggled to make ends meet and so had no wealth for her family to ransom her with. Kidnapped on November 02, 2010 her captors lowered their ransom demands from 1 Million Pesos (22,000 US) to 700,000 Pesos (15,000 US) in addition to the 2 new M16s (meaning newly manufactured M16A2s as opposed to new model M16s which would be the almost impossible to access, M16A4s, which one never sees in the Philippines), both equipped with grenade. Launchers (M203s). Finally it was 500,000 Pesos (11,000 US) and Rose was free and on Xmas day no less. At 3PM she was released in Sitio Limbo Kassah, Barangay Magkawah, al Barka on Basilan Island.
Not a moment too soon either since Rose, who suffers from both diabetes AND hypertension could barely stand unassisted when picked up by authorities.
On December 21, 2010 in the Zamboanga City Public Market at almost 3PM an AFP detachment captured ASG guerilla Abu Isaac was nabbed on a Warrant issued by Judge Leo Jay Principe of Regional Trial Court, Branch #1 on Basilan for his part in both the Sipadan Island Dive Resort near Sandakan Island, Malaysia Kidnapping in 2000 and the Dos Palmas Kidnapping in Puerto Princessa, Palawan Island in 2001. The former put ASG in the limelight and gave it its biggest pay day (20 Million US). The latter sealed its infamy as that was the 1 where 3 Americans were kidnapped and only 1 survived. The 1st, Guillermo Sobero, a dual Peruvian/American was beheaded days after the famous "Siege of Lamitan" which was subsequent to the landing on Basilsan from Palawan. The other 2, the American missionary couple Gracia and Martin Burnham spent a very trying 51 odd weeks being marched all over the mountains of Basilan, and in their las 2 weeks on the Zamboanga Peninsula. In the end, held by the infamous and very ambitious Abu Sabaya they were sighted by an AFP detachment of Scout Rangers, COY 15 (15th Company) led by 1stLt. Oliver Almonares, on its Test Mission (a very stupid AFP protocol that has combat elements undertake a very loosely defined tactical operation at the end of field training. The only way in which a detachment can pass is to make contact with the enemy. This naturally causes very reckless behavior). The 15th, along with a local CAFGU soldier as a guide (Citizens Auxiliary Force Geographical Unit, a form of Army Reserve manned by residents from a single municipal unit within which that CAFGU element is deployed. A unit may not operate outside of its official AOR, aka, "Area of Responsibility") ended up causing the deaths of both Martin Burnham and a Filipina captive, Ediborah Yap. Ms. Yap had been a nurse at the hospital occupied during the Siege of Lamitan and when the AFP connived with corrupt local officials to allow ASG to walk through a 5000 man cordon she and other hospital staff were added to the growing list of captives.
Lastly, on December 17, 2010 in a Federal Court Room in Washington D.C., in the US, 1 of ASG's 1st members finally faced justice. Madhatta "Kumander Haipe" Haipe was leading a band of 40 ASG guerillas in the backcountry around Lake Sebu, in South Cotabato Provibce when a group of vacationers had the very bad fortune to cross the band's path on December 27, 1995. The 1f tourists, all Filipinos and Filpino-Americans had been enjoying the beautiful vista offered at Trankini Falls, downstream from the lake. Kidnapping all 16, Haipe, formerly a Professor of Islamic Studies at MSU (Mindanao State University) then released a couple to arrange ransoms for the rest. By December 31 all were released and ASG had made 1.5 Million Pesos (56,000 US in 1995 but 34,000 US today).
He was extradited to the US on August 27, 2010 and arrested upon landing as is the American way in such things. Originally indicted in the US back in November, 2000 owing to the American citizenship of 4 of his 16 victims, he received 23 years in an American prison (which all things considered means 19 years of living conditions better than most Mindanowans will ever enjoy. This is America's weak spot, one of many. If a young Mindanowan who has been subsisting upon 1 meal a day for most of his life is made aware that should he somehow hold an American captive he can then expect to face 3 decent meals (relatively speaking), free medical and dental care and a warm bed IF caught, well you get the point).
The obvious raison d'etre would be that the Philippines is a traditionally Catholic Nation and those two days are Catholic Holy Days (albeit days that have been twisted into plastic carticatures of themselves by greeting card companies, florists, etc. The Abu Sayyaf began life as a truly textbook example of Islamo-fascism. Abdurajak Janjalani, its main founder, was deeply committed towards an ideological end game which involved capturing all Philippine territory and the imposition of an Islamic political system. Although the scope is different, just to point out, the MILF and ASG aren't too far removed from each other in this main objective. Both Janjalani and the MILF's late founder Hashim Salamat saw politics and religion as inseparable. Put succinctly...
I) The purpose of humankind (in Islam its actually "mankind") is to honour the deity (Allah).
II) In order to properly honour the deity, humankind must congregate (the more the merrier so to speak).
III) When humans congregate they inevitably need a political system.
Another way to understand this rather simplistic proposition is to consider it thus: The purpose of political systems is to optimise humankind's ability to honour the deity. Ergo Islam is the endgame of any political system and there is absolutely no differentiation between so called "Church" and "State." "Ibada," as it is known in Arabic (ergo "in the Islamic worldview"), denotes the obesiance to Allah in all things. Proper Ibada requires an "Ummah," (a community of Muslims), and ANY community needs rules (aka "a political system"). The result is an unbroken circle of, Allah-Muslim-Allahs Law (aka "Shari'a"), THE perfect political system.
Though identical on this point, what I will call "form of governance," Janjalani and Salamat differed as to
"content of form." Both agreed that it should be based on the very basic Islamic principle of "Shura, (Arabic for "Consultative," which is identical to both mens' tribal perspectives as well. Salamat was a Maguindanowan Tribesman, Janjalani was a Yakan Tribesman though his mother was an Ilonggo, I'm sure her parents were just thrilled with how she turned out). They even agreed on the process to achieve this, the "Majlis" (Arabic word denoting an assembly of knowledgeable clerics). Where they differed was in scope. Janjalani saw no compromise and envisioned the Philippines as part of a worldwide system. His vision was devoid of etno-nationalism where as that of Salamat was not only deeply rooted in it, it absolutely revolved around the fantasy of, "Bangsamoro." The Bangsamoro is a non-existent People on par intellectually with the belief that "Palestinians" constituted an actual People prior to 1948. I use this analogy because just as with "Palestinians" one sees the manufacturing of not only an entire ethnicity but also a manufactured historical narrative that could not exist without a manufactured foil. With "Palestinians" this of course would be Zionists, and with the "Bangsamoro" this would be the... "Filipino." The parallels are very deep but I fear allowing such tangents to hijack what I hoped would be a relatively simple screed (hahaha, Shandyesque as always. Hey what good is a Blog if I can't use it to marry obscure political analogies, obscure literary references and obscure witticisms? Yay to obscurity!).
Salamat, like any capable leader, was a pragmatist to a large degree. Where Janjalani rooted himself in an extremist position out of utter conviction Salamat did so only in order to obtain and utilise an advantageous bargaining position. Once Salamt realised that Misuari's MNLF would leave Central Mindanowan Muslims (Maguindanowans, Maranaw, Iranun and Kagan Tribes) as marginalised as they had always been he used Islam as the ideological vehicle with which to differentiate his clque within the MNLF (basically the MNLF's "Kutawato Regional Committee" that Salamat had Chaired since the Committee's inception shortly after the MNLF was founded). It took a solid 5 years before the MILF was able to truly assert itself as an organisation independently of the MNLF (it left the MNLF in 1976 and formally declared itself extant in 1981). By the time the MILF was fully opetational Salamat had already, internally, abandoned the primary objective of a fully independent homeland, as well as the unilateral imposition of a universal system of Shari'a (Islamic Law). ASG could never compromise ideologically and this in turn led the organisation (actually there is no "organisation" at this point) to wallow in its current state of milquetoast mediocrity.
Enter, stage left, the actual reason why I began this long winded (hey, its a lot better than "foul winded") screed; The ASG and its propencity for violence on Valentines and Xmas. If you spent every Xmas sucking down boiled rice and cassava while your Christian neighbours got toys, candy and a luxurious meal I reckon you would have some issues as well (my chief complaint about the internet is that it is impossible to convey sarcasm, as I am so failingly attempting to do now). How else to rationalise what took place on Jolo Island early Xmas morning?
At 710AM Xmas morning, Father Bacolol was in the middle of performing Mass for roughly 100 worshipers at Evangelical
Chapel when an IED (Improvised Explosive Device, aka "Bomb") detonated, wounding 11 worshippers. The device had been planted in between panels of the corrugated tin roof 3 meters from the right corner of the altar. Authorities are quite perplexed as to how the device was set because the chapel, in Jolo City's Barangay Asturias, sits smack dab in the middle of Camp Asturias, the Provincial PNP (Philippine National Police) installation. Also worth noting is that this compound is now guarded by Marines from 3rd Brigade's Recon (Reconaissance) Company. The Marines were deployed on December 22nd after the head priest, Father Romeo Villanueva, received a tip from a parishoner that the chapel was to be targetted. 1 possibility of course is that the IED was set prior to the Marine deployment. Another is that it was not an ASG action at all but rather an attention seeking act. I tend to believe the latter because the IED had no shrapnel payload (ASG usually includes sheetrock nails to do real damage, at least they don't use shredded razor blades as is done in the Middle East). The eleven wounded people were injured by building debris as the roof came down.
Also on Xmas, at 5AM, four men escaped from the Sulu Provincial Jail by breaking through their communal cell's antiquated ceiling. Of course the two guards on duty did not hear a thing. PNP Officers (the Philippines has no real correctional system and certainly has no specially trained guards. Wardens and most officials involved in that dynamic are entirely political appointees who receive that position in quid pro quo arrangements) PO1 Renomhar Undangan and PO1 Algamar Sahiron have been suspended pending the requisite investigation (I could add, "for not sharing their considerable bribe" but am trying to run a relatively serious Blog, work with me). If you notice the surname of that second police officer, Sahiron, a light bulb MAY suddenly go on and all things will become clear. No? The Sahiron Clan is neck deep in ASG with Clansman Radullan Sahiron serving as the major factional leader in Sulu.
One of the four men who escaped, Sulaiman Muin, was incarcerated for the IED attack against Sulu's Governor, Abdusakur Tan, on May 13, 2009. The attack on Governor Tan was one of two bombings directed against him in a 15 month time period. The second attack was the bombing at Zamboanga City Airpoty, which I will briefly discuss below.
The May 13 attack took place just as the governor's motorcade left the capitol complex in Patikul, en route to Sakur's residential compound for the mid-day meal. At roughly 1215PM a parked motorcycle rigged with a powerful IED just as Tan's SUV passed it. Thanks to a stroke of luck the governor merely suffered superficial injuries when the vehicle was lifted off the ground. Mayor Hatta Berto of Pandami was among the 9 individuals who were more seriously wounded, including 2 soldiers and 1 PNP officer in different vehicles.
The attempt was committed by ASG members but had been contracted by unknown parties. Ergo, some very important and powerful people have a lot to lose if the facts ever reach the light of day. Officially, Tan's political arch nemesis, NGO Chairman Cocoy Tulawie was blamed (as he was in the 2nd attempt as well) but the real culprit could be any one of a number of people. I will save the pondering for an entry devoted to the governor that I have been planning for awhile.
The 2nd attack, on August 05, 2010 took place just a couple of meters from the exit of Zamboanga City Airport's terminal. As Governor Tan, his son and a couple of close friends left the terminal after a flight from Manila, a man identified as Reynaldo Apilado of Zamboanga City's Barangay Maasin stepped towards him and detonated his back pack . Originally it was pegged as a so called "Suicide Bombing" but upon investigation a second theory emerged, one in which Mr. Apilado was given a backpack, the contents of which were unknown to him. The widowed, unemployed carpenter was simply instructed to "give it" to a 2nd individual. Standing outside the airport terminal Mr. Apilado was none the wiser when the "consignee" walked out the sliding glass doors.
Killed along with Mr. Apilado was his companion (or according to this 2nd theory, his "minder"), Hatamil Yakob, 30, of Barangay Baluk-Baluk, Lantawan, Basilan Island. Wounded were 24 civilians though the Philippine Media being what it is, only 1 of the 24 (not including Governor Tan and son) merited special notice, an elderly British expat living in the city with his young Filipina lover. Governor Tan was only moderately wounded with mostly superficial cuts on the left side of his abdomen, from Mr. Apilado's bone fragments. Supporting the afore mentioned 2nd theory, that Apilado had no idea he was part of a bombing plot was the fact that he detonated as he was facing the governor. The bomb in the backpack was absorbed by his Apilado's own body. Had he been intent on harming the governor he would have certainly been standing with his back towards the him or else facing him with the backpack slung over an arm, held in front of him, etc. Again, for brevity's sake I am omitting a lot of information that I will include in the entry devoted to Governor Tan.
Now here the story on the "Jail Escape" takes a turn that should really make things clear for you: It only took a few hours to get a bead on 3 of the 4 escapees. The 4th, Salipalo Pulalon, had left his 3 comrades as soon as they cleared the jail compound. The PNP team hunting the escapees, led by Inspector Abdulgafur Sahiron (notice the surname again) managed to sight the 3 men who remained together late Sunday evening, December 26. The OFFICIAL version of events is that of the 3, Sulaiman Muin refused to surrender. As the team moved towards Muin to subdue him the escapee grabbed for Inspector Sahiron's weapon. Naturally he was shot to death...with every shot in his back.
The other 2 escapees on scene, Khadaffy Askalani (carthief) and Nadzmir Amirul (I will explain his case) were returned to the Provincial Jail without further incident. Nadzmir Amirul has got to be 1 of the stupidest men on Jolo. He was in jail not because of any crime but because he had been threatened and the island has no sort of effective protection. The country itself only implemented its 1st Witness Protection Programme this year and seeing as to what happened with the first witness in the Ampatuan Case ("Maguindanao Massacre") when he trusted in it I don't think many Filipinos will allow themselves to be enrolled. I will spare those sordid details and instead save them for a series of Ampatuan related entries I plan to do as well. Even more ironically though, while Amirul wasn't in jail for a crime prior to his escape, he is now. Yep, poor Amirul has been charged for breaking out of the jail where he had been incarcerated WITHOUT charges.
On December 21, 2010 the Malaysian Government finally had to eat crow. Ever since 2 Malaysian-Chinese had been kidnapped by ASG in February 08, 2010, the Malaysians have been denying what everyone (regionally) knew, that ASG had managed ONCE AGAIN to enter Malaysian territory at will. The 2 men, Lai Wong Chun, 46, and Chen Yui Chung, 48 had been grabbed from a seaweed farm off of Pulao Sebangkit Island, which is itself off of Borneo's Sabah State. I have mentioned in my last MILF entry how Sabah is a contested territory and that the same ethnicities one finds here in the Southern Philippines are also sometimes found in Sabah. Ergo, people come and go at will travelling between 4 regional nations (Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and in isolated cases Brunei as well). There are little known regional agreements that allow residents to do this without even having to show a school ID, let alone a passport and visa. Of course this is exploited by terrorists and smugglers but in truth it really doesn't matter because there are literally many thousands of islands in the region and scant ability to police them. The larger number of ASG guerillas are Tausug Tribesmen whose modern origin lies on Jolo Island, in Sulu Province. However, more Tausug live in Sabah than in all islands of the Philippines combined. ASG will be in Sabah as long as ASG exists.
The 2 men, cousins from Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, were originally taken to Tawi Tawi, the southern most province in the Philippines and part of Mindanao, administratively. Due to the international nature of the offence little had been stated about this case, and despite what Malaysia may state publicly, it was no secret that they landed on Bonggao, Tawi Tawi. From there as pressure ebbed and flowed they were shuttled between islands in Sulu until finally this month, December, 2010, they returned to Bonggao. PNP SAF (Police Special Action Force, the PNP Special Force) laid an effective cordon around the sector in which the band of 10 ASG gueriilas had encamped. The official story is that the captors, under Kumander Ahmad fled knowing that they were surrounded and left their quarry in a standard diversionary tactic. In reality though, the PNP made a deal, leave the 2 victim and you are free to go. This is almost always the outcome in those rare instances when the PNP (or AFP, Armed Forces of the Philippines) manages to actually locate an encampment. Kidnappers tend to operate in the most economically depressed areas. They make big money, the biggest in a given area and as you see with the Sahiron Clan, are often the same legal authorities victims rely on to help protect them. Even when that is not the case, an AFP, or PNP Jr. Officer leading a detachment can have his career ruined if a captive is killed during a rescue attempt. Conversely, a kidnap victim rescued alive and well can make one's entire career depending upon the status (or nationality) of the victim(s). Therefore it behooves the young officer to play the game just so. The AFP oversees security in any insurgency prone area. AFP SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) requires notification to and coordination with an LGU (Local Government Unit, aka "municipality"). Even when LGU executives aren't actually related to kidnappers they are still going to be very susceptible to bribery (the "Siege of Lamitan" is a textbook example of the problems I am briefly discussing).
Indeed, the very same thing happened for a 2nd time this week in the case of young Tsinoy (Filipino-Chinese, aka "Chinoy") Kenn "Kenny" Klefford Lao. I mentioned the 21 year old college student's case in a recent KFR ( Kidnap for Ransom) entry A 1st year student at Notre Dame College in Jolo City, on Jolo Island in Sulu Province he stupidly left the safety of his campus on October 07, 2010 to meet an anonymous text mate (I explained just what that is in that entry I mentioned) but he was instead waylaid by ASG guerillas who kidnapped him. He was "freed" on December 22, 2010 when again, a PNP SAF cordon was laid down around an isolated settlement in Sitio Kabbon, Barangay Langhob, in the town of Indanan. Only guarded by 2 young men at that point, the 2 abandoned their delightful meal of boiled rice and cassava (excuse me, I have to retch) and skedaddled to wherever ASG go when they are not making the world miserable. Kenny recognised the "opportunity" and ran for dear life,... Until he collided with an ensconced PNP SAF asset in a sniper blind (camoflauged site for snipers to conceal themselves in).
The 3rd ASG kidnap victim to find freedom this week is also a person I discussed in a recent KFR entry; 60 year old widow Rosabella "Rose" Barranda was returning to her home in Barangay Tumahubong, Sumisip, Basilan Island aboard a jeepney (puic transportation) from a Bible study group in the town of Lamitan when ASG gunmen from the Nurhasan Jamiri Faction kidnapped her at a checkpoint. Though she owns a small general store on a rubber plantation she struggled to make ends meet and so had no wealth for her family to ransom her with. Kidnapped on November 02, 2010 her captors lowered their ransom demands from 1 Million Pesos (22,000 US) to 700,000 Pesos (15,000 US) in addition to the 2 new M16s (meaning newly manufactured M16A2s as opposed to new model M16s which would be the almost impossible to access, M16A4s, which one never sees in the Philippines), both equipped with grenade. Launchers (M203s). Finally it was 500,000 Pesos (11,000 US) and Rose was free and on Xmas day no less. At 3PM she was released in Sitio Limbo Kassah, Barangay Magkawah, al Barka on Basilan Island.
Not a moment too soon either since Rose, who suffers from both diabetes AND hypertension could barely stand unassisted when picked up by authorities.
On December 21, 2010 in the Zamboanga City Public Market at almost 3PM an AFP detachment captured ASG guerilla Abu Isaac was nabbed on a Warrant issued by Judge Leo Jay Principe of Regional Trial Court, Branch #1 on Basilan for his part in both the Sipadan Island Dive Resort near Sandakan Island, Malaysia Kidnapping in 2000 and the Dos Palmas Kidnapping in Puerto Princessa, Palawan Island in 2001. The former put ASG in the limelight and gave it its biggest pay day (20 Million US). The latter sealed its infamy as that was the 1 where 3 Americans were kidnapped and only 1 survived. The 1st, Guillermo Sobero, a dual Peruvian/American was beheaded days after the famous "Siege of Lamitan" which was subsequent to the landing on Basilsan from Palawan. The other 2, the American missionary couple Gracia and Martin Burnham spent a very trying 51 odd weeks being marched all over the mountains of Basilan, and in their las 2 weeks on the Zamboanga Peninsula. In the end, held by the infamous and very ambitious Abu Sabaya they were sighted by an AFP detachment of Scout Rangers, COY 15 (15th Company) led by 1stLt. Oliver Almonares, on its Test Mission (a very stupid AFP protocol that has combat elements undertake a very loosely defined tactical operation at the end of field training. The only way in which a detachment can pass is to make contact with the enemy. This naturally causes very reckless behavior). The 15th, along with a local CAFGU soldier as a guide (Citizens Auxiliary Force Geographical Unit, a form of Army Reserve manned by residents from a single municipal unit within which that CAFGU element is deployed. A unit may not operate outside of its official AOR, aka, "Area of Responsibility") ended up causing the deaths of both Martin Burnham and a Filipina captive, Ediborah Yap. Ms. Yap had been a nurse at the hospital occupied during the Siege of Lamitan and when the AFP connived with corrupt local officials to allow ASG to walk through a 5000 man cordon she and other hospital staff were added to the growing list of captives.
Lastly, on December 17, 2010 in a Federal Court Room in Washington D.C., in the US, 1 of ASG's 1st members finally faced justice. Madhatta "Kumander Haipe" Haipe was leading a band of 40 ASG guerillas in the backcountry around Lake Sebu, in South Cotabato Provibce when a group of vacationers had the very bad fortune to cross the band's path on December 27, 1995. The 1f tourists, all Filipinos and Filpino-Americans had been enjoying the beautiful vista offered at Trankini Falls, downstream from the lake. Kidnapping all 16, Haipe, formerly a Professor of Islamic Studies at MSU (Mindanao State University) then released a couple to arrange ransoms for the rest. By December 31 all were released and ASG had made 1.5 Million Pesos (56,000 US in 1995 but 34,000 US today).
He was extradited to the US on August 27, 2010 and arrested upon landing as is the American way in such things. Originally indicted in the US back in November, 2000 owing to the American citizenship of 4 of his 16 victims, he received 23 years in an American prison (which all things considered means 19 years of living conditions better than most Mindanowans will ever enjoy. This is America's weak spot, one of many. If a young Mindanowan who has been subsisting upon 1 meal a day for most of his life is made aware that should he somehow hold an American captive he can then expect to face 3 decent meals (relatively speaking), free medical and dental care and a warm bed IF caught, well you get the point).
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