No collusion with rebels: RP military
No collusion with rebels: RP military
MANILA (Agencies): A Philippine military probe found no
evidence supporting allegations that officers were colluding with
Abu Sayyaf rebels holding 18 American and Filipino hostages in
the south, a report said on Sunday.
The report, prepared by a six-man investigating team, focused
on the escape of Abu Sayyaf rebels from a besieged hospital and
church compound in Lamitan town in Basilan province, 900
kilometers south of Manila, on June 2.
The escape triggered allegations that some military officials
received bribes from the rebels to allow them to flee the
compound, which was supposed to have been surrounded by troops.
The military probe team, headed by Brig. Gen. Reynaldo Rivera,
said the extremists were able to escape because the soldiers on
the ground were ill-equipped and undermanned.
"The occupation of the town's church and a private hospital in
Lamitan by the Abu Sayyaf on June 2 was bold and daring," Rivera
said in the report. "The military was surprised by this move and
the follow-on operation had significant tactical lapses."
"The lapses enabled the enemy to escape back to the
hinterlands together with most of their hostages," he added.
The findings of the military probe team were different from
the assessment of a Senate committee that investigated the
incident.
Senator Ramon Magsaysay, head of the Senate committee on
national defense, said there was "strong evidence there might be
some collusion between some military officers and those involved
in the kidnapping".
"I am afraid we might even go for a court martial," he said in
a television interview last Friday.
According to the military report, troops who battled the Abu
Sayyaf in Lamitan did not have communications equipment, were
only armed with M-16 rifles and had little supply of ammunition.
It added that reinforcements arrived 11 hours after the
fighting erupted.
"Due to limited troops available during that time, it was
impossible to totally seal off all possible exit route/points of
the Abu Sayyaf," Rivera said.
He added that there were several errors in decision-making on
the ground, noting that "maximum resources of the military should
have been brought to the location with urgency to the extent of
commandeering civilian air and sea transport to inject forces".
Meanwhile, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said her campaign
against drug trafficking was a fight to the finish and warned the
Philippines could become "Asia's Colombia" if the drug menace was
not promptly curbed.
Arroyo, in a statement late on Saturday, said "the threat of
narco-politics is real" and vowed to use all the powers of her
office to prevent drug lords from having an influential role in
Philippine politics.