Terrorism

Terror Law Undermines Efforts for Justice and Peace in Mindanao

COTABATO CITY — The Suara Bangsamoro Partylist is one with the rest of the Filipino people in vehemently opposing the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Bill.

The Suara Bangsamoro believes that once President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will sign it into law, it will have a grave effect on the struggle of the Bangsamoro people in Mindanao and will sow more dissent among a people whose constitutional rights have always been violated by the military and police authorities.

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Military’s Tagging of MNLF Fatalities as Abu Sayyaf Worsens Tension in Sulu

A government peace negotiator, a Marine general and 11 other people have been held since Friday by a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front. Undersecretary Ramon G. Santos of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), Marine Major General Benjamin Dolorfino, of the military’s National Capital Region Command and the others were prevented from leaving an MNLF camp on Friday afternoon. The MNLF said they did not take Santos and company as hostages and that they were merely asked to remain in the MNLF camp in Panamao, Sulu, “for more inquiries” by the rebel group.

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Arroyo’s ‘Hands of Steel’ Crush Boy, Old Man; ‘Questionable Deaths’ Mar Campaign Vs Sayyaf

According to the military, 10 Abu Sayyaf terrorists were killed in Patikul, Sulu, on Jan. 18. But an official disclosed that five of the dead were actually MNLF members and that the other fatalities include a 12-year-old boy and a 90-year-old man who angrily stormed a Marine camp after the killing of two relatives, but was shot even before he could approach the entrance.

By Cheryll D. Fiel
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY ? On Jan. 18, the Philippine military announced that 10 alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group had been killed in separate encounters in Sulu province. The government later said that this was yet another boost to the campaign against terrorism.

But a public official in Jolo, the capital of Sulu, who is also an organizer for a human-rights group, belied those claims on Friday, saying that five of the fatalities were actually members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Worse, according to Temugen Tulawie, a councilor of Jolo town, among those killed were a 90-year-old man, and a mini-bus driver and his 12-year-old son.

In fact, the old man, identified as Sarail Jaynaltul, was shot not in an encounter but when he stormed a Marine camp in indignation over the death that same day of his grandson and son-in-law, Tulawie said.

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