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[av_heading heading=’PEOPLE POWWOW | Martial law unneeded in Marawi ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY HERBERT VEGO
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Thursday, June 15, 2017
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SENATOR Tito Sotto, an all-time presidential defender, has asked “trolls” opposing martial law to go to war-torn Marawi City. In that context, a “troll” is anybody who posts offensive comments against a person or organization, in effect provoking angry responses.
This corner begs of Sotto to use his common sense. Under martial law, anybody — not just the suspected terrorists — could be arrested and jailed without warrant of arrest. Oh, well, exempted nga pala are those who sing hosannas to President Rodrigo Duterte.
No wonder Tito Sen feared not Duterte when the latter announced on TV May 24, 2017, “Kayong mga kababayan ko, you have experienced martial law. It could not be any different from what President Marcos did. I’d be … I’d be harsh.”
Nakakatakot for a martial law victim — I who was “invited” to Camp Aguinaldo in 1974 and made to sign a pledge never again to write a column critical of Ferdinand Marcos.
Without martial law — the legality of which remains to be solved by the Supreme Court — could he not have marshaled the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to fight in Marawi?
Yes, he could have, just as his predecessors Joseph Estrada and Benigno Simeon Aquino Jr. had done. Remember, in the year 2000 Estrada ordered an all-out-war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which wanted to create a separate Islamic state, without declaring martial law. The AFP regained from the MILF 13 major camps, including Camp Abubakar, and 43 minor camps.
Then, too, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) under Nur Misuari — former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) — seized Zamboanga City in September 2013. It took President Aquino and the AFP 20 days to push back the rebels, leaving behind more than 200 dead and wounded — including cops, soldiers, rebels, and civilians.
He is the same Nur Misuari who, only last June 3, offered President Duterte 200 MNLF fighters kuno to help the AFP neutralize the Islamic State (IS)-sponsored terrorism in Marawi, which is now on its fourth week.
A day later on June 4, Duterte announced he would accept Misuari’s offer, adding that he would also be willing to integrate the rebel New People’s Army (NPA) in the war against the combined IS and Abu Sayyaf forces. Alas, for the AFP, that would mean sleeping with the enemies. But nobody in the strongman’s Cabinet raised alarm.
Duterte might have panicked, aware that well-funded and fully-armed IS terrorists from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Middle East had reinforced the Maute/Abu Sayyaf group in Marawi.
Ten AFP soldiers had fallen under “friendly fire” of AFP air strikers. Thirteen more would succumb to enemy fire.
Fortunately, Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana, in the shoes of martial law administrator, had the gall to oppose the integration of MNLF and NPA forces into the AFP. No, Sir!
A visibly disappointed Duterte also cried, “I was not informed!” It was his reaction to a newspaper report showing a picture of the United States’ P3 Orion surveillance plane flying over Marawi in support of the AFP offensive on the ground without his green light.
TV newscasts also showed alleged members of the United States Special Operations Forces in the company of Filipino soldiers in Marawi City.
Clearly it’s not martial law that is going to decide the outcome of the Marawi siege, hopefully within this week in government’s favor. It’s the preponderance of killing machines.
As regards Duterte’s policy of “foreign independence,” well, it did not play out at the Rizal Park, where he was a “no-show” during the June 12 Independence Day commemoration. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
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