Probably emboldened by the Islamist State terrorist attacks worldwide, Muslim rebels belonging to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters have stepped up their offensive in Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato and Maguindanao leaving 11 civilians dead. A splinter group from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the BIFF is bent on carving out an independent state from the country’s present territory. This of course will never happen without the dire consequences of a violent confrontation. It is therefore in the national interest that a workable Bangsamoro Basic Law conforming to the Constitution is passed by Congress. But with the politicians’ present preoccupation with the May 2016 national elections, it is doubtful the BBL will see passage between now and next April.The incoming administration should set the highest priority in passing a law for an autonomous Muslim Mindanao that ensures a just and lasting peace in the region.
The BIFF resurgence is worrisome considering the reported presence of Islamist State terrorists in the South who are allegedly training Muslim guerrillas. Renewed fighting in the South could result in the suspension of elections in parts of central Mindanao.
While the military has flagged Islamist activity in Mindanao, administration spokesmen chose to wallpaper the problem. The IS terrorist threat is real. It could happen here with a terror attack in Metro Manila’s shopping malls. Terrorists struck in a Kenya shopping mall where gunmen killed hundreds. They also attacked a Mali hotel leaving several tourists dead. More recently was the simultaneous attack pulled by IS in the heart of Paris followed by the San Bernardino, California carnage.
We do not wish to unduly alarm the populace but it’s better to err on the side of caution rather than do body count later.
The recent spate of guerrilla activity is being carried out by the BIFF group that reinforced the MILF in the Mamasapano, Maguindanao encounter where 44 men of the Philippine National Police- Special Action Forces perished. Before they were massacred, the PNP-SAF commandos were able to accomplish their mission to take out international terrorist Marwan.
The recent BIFF rampage could be part of the psy war to push the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law which in its present form has met with stiff opposition from some lawmakers. Although the BIFF is known to oppose the peace talks, there is a lingering suspicion the breakaway group is operating with MILF consent. The MILF claims it has no control over the BIFF This is the dilemma of dealing with a three-headed hydra. When the Cory Aquino administration forged a peace pact in 1989 with the Moro National Liberation Front of Nur Misuari, the faction of Hashim Salamat was not pleased with how the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao was being run by Misuari. Salamat, and later Al Haj Murad formed the MILF. Pillaging of villages and ambushes of government troops forced President Benigno Aquino to form a peace panel to sit down with the new rebel group.
This was not acceptable to Misuari who felt his camp was excluded from the peace negotiations. Under Nur’s orders, the MNLF laid siege to Zamboanga City. It took nearly a month of fierce fighting, loss of lives and heavy damage before government troops were able to dislodge Misuari’s men from the major southern city.
Filipino students in Spratlys
An activist student group last Saturday slipped through Chinese patrol boats to camp out in Pag-asa, one of the contested shoals in the Spratly Islands. This was not just a cruise for students out for fun and frolic. Numbering about 50, they maneuvered a boat for what they called a “Freedom Voyage” in a show of Philippine sovereignty over the Kalayaan Islands.
The student action incurred the ire of the Chinese who have included Pag-asa in its sweeping nine- dash line claim in the South China Sea.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman condemned the student action and demanded the Philippine government order them to move out together with other equipment still in the disputed shoal. A half submerged Philippine vessel, the MV Sierra Madre, serves as an outpost in another shoal, the Ayungin (also known as Second Thomas reef) for nine Filipino marines who regularly get provisions delivered by boat or are air dropped.
For their bravado and patriotism, the 50 students get my nod as the country’s persons of the year. We wish the leftist militants who regularly demonstrate in front of the US Embassy in Manila would follow the lead of these courageous young men and women.