Dying in Sulu
What, exactly, is happening in Sulu? The high death toll reported last week has caused many to sound the alarm, not only in Camp Aguinaldo but even in the halls of Congress.It has since become clear that the Armed Forces sustained the losses not in a single firefight, but in two encounters. The grief the public feels remains sharp, but it becomes a bit more bearable when the fog of war lifts a little.
The brutal fact remains, however: Too many soldiers lost their lives last week in the battlefields of Sulu. What did they die for?
They died in pursuit of the remnant Abu Sayyaf, and especially of two Jemaah Islamiyah leaders: Dulmatin and Umar Patek. That they were killed, in all likelihood, by members of the Moro National Liberation Front, an organization the government signed a peace accord with a decade ago, makes their sacrifice all the more heartbreaking.
Or all the more pointless—if, that is, we credit those who have never believed a lasting peace with Moro separatist groups was possible. For them, every armed encounter, every ambush, is fresh proof that Muslims cannot be trusted.
For those of us who believe in the possibility of lasting peace in the South, however, every armed encounter, every ambush, is proof positive that the peace process is as necessary as ever.
Certainly, the government’s iron fist must come down hard on those who coddle the JI terrorists and the Abu Sayyaf bandits. But the government must do so without losing sight of the true national interest: not merely to pursue the terrorists or to punish those who offer them sanctuary, but to establish the basis of a lasting peace. As President Macapagal-Arroyo said in the first of three statements she released over the weekend: “The military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf must continue, not as an act of vengeance but as a strategy to win the peace.”
Much about the offensive in Sulu remains confusing, and confused. But this much we can say.
THE KILL RATIO. The other day, Rep. Roilo Golez asked plaintively why the kill ratio, as it were, was almost 1:1. Perhaps a congressional investigation was in order? As a graduate of the US Naval Academy, however, Golez should have known better. This is guerrilla warfare. Rebels are not obliged to tell the media how many casualties they sustained; in fact, they remove bodies from the battlefield as soon as they can, because they can.
After two encounters last Thursday, for example, it was reported that only five Moro rebels had died. That is to say, only five bodies of men identified as belonging to the MNLF were found. But Jolo brigade commander Anthony Supnet said he had found out from residents in the area that about 40 rebels were actually killed. In contrast, Supnet said, “We cannot hide our casualties.”
THE ROGUE MNLF. All the President’s statements notwithstanding, the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf at this stage involves—or rather consists mainly of—attacks on MNLF redoubts in Sulu suspected of harboring the bandits and the JI leaders. Because “blood ties are very strong in Sulu,” as one peace advocate and long-time Sulu researcher told this newspaper, the AFP is actually engaged in combat with armed men who do not think of themselves in the same way the AFP, and the public at large, thinks of them. Said Victor Taylor: “What needs to be stressed is that from the perspective of the fighters, the organizational labels that the government uses, such as ‘rogue MNLF-Abu Sayyaf,’ have no meaning. It’s the common enemy that binds them together.”
That common enemy, unfortunately, is the AFP.
THE SPIRAL OF WAR. Is this reality “on the ground,” as both military commanders and armchair warmongers are fond of saying, evidence that peace with our Muslim brethren is only an illusion? No. Peace with the majority of our Muslim citizens is a triumphant fact; peace with one major Moro separatist movement a true feat; peace with the other separatist group still, despite recent encounters, closer at hand.
Over and above the snarling image of remnant MNLF units who retained their arms, we must acknowledge the reality of thousands of former MNLF rebels successfully integrated into the AFP or fully rehabilitated into mainstream life. In fact, some of those killed or wounded or involved in last week’s offensive were ex-MNLF “integrees.” We don’t doubt their sense of duty, their patriotism.
