INCOMING Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo Visaya said he might recommend to President-elect Rodrigo Duterte that he declare martial law in Basilan and Sulu and other parts of Mindanao where terrorist groups thrive.
Visaya will assume leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on July 1, the same day Chief Supt. Ronald dela Rosa become chief of the Philippine National Police.
Visaya, currently chief of the Southern Luzon Command, said he will sit down with the service commanders immediately after he takes office to assess the situation in Sulu and Basilan as well as Zamboanga Sibugay where the Abu Sayyaf Group and the other Maute group—composed of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas and foreign fighters led by Abdullah Maute—operate.
On two or three occasions, Duterte has said he will “invade Sulu” if the Abu Sayyaf do not surrender.
“The declaration of martial law is an option… Having said that we’ve to make an assessment first and see if there are enough bases to implement martial law in Sulu and Basilan, including some parts in Zamboanga Sibugay,” he said.
Recently, the Army launched a major offensive against the Maute group in Butig town after the self-declared sympathizer of the Islamic State tried to recover some of their bases that had been taken by the military earlier this year.
Visaya said the Abu Sayyaf problem in Sulu and Basilan was complicated by the “failure of governance” by local government units that are supposed to be partners of the national government, the military and the police in curbing terrorism.
Martial law, he said, could reestablish order in Sulu and Basilan and prevent the Abu Sayyaf from continuing its kidnappings.
At present, Visaya said, there are already 11 battalions or roughly 5,500 soldiers deployed in Sulu alone against about 200 ASG fighters.
“We have already 11 battalions there as of now in Sulu. We already have enough troops but the problem is our soldiers have no mastery of the terrain. It’s difficult because the Abu Sayyaf have built tunnels. If martial law is declared, we can control their movements,” Visaya said in Filipino.
Earlier, Maj. Filemon Tan, spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command, cited the same obstacles to eliminating the Abu Sayyaf.
Some senior officers have urged Duterte to order the 1st Marine Brigade back to Sulu because they have been there for decades and have mastery of the terrain.
The brigade was pulled out in 2014 and deployed to Sultan Kudarat and replaced by the Army’s 501st Infantry Brigade, a unit of the 5th Infantry Division based in Camp Melchor dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela.
One senior officer said that from 2001 to 2013, more than a dozen ASG bases were cut down to only two—until the 1st Marine Brigade was pulled out.
“Now, the ASG influence has spread like wildfire in the last two years and they are rebuilding their bases. You can’t just bomb these bases. There must be an operation on the ground,” the officer said.
Reelected Senator Panfilo Lacson said there is not better time to address the ASG problem than under a Duterte administration, which should engage the bandits in a “tit-for-tat” battle.
“Kidnap them back or kill them,” he said—quickly adding that the intelligence work must be accurate to pinpoint the correct targets.
“There should be an end to ASG sowing terrorism. Based on experience and the pronouncements of Mayor Duterte, I can see all the elements required to decimate the Abu Sayyaf are present during his administration,” Lacson said.
President Benigno Aquino III, meanwhile, is assessing ongoing operations against the Abu Sayyaf, days after the bandits beheaded their Canadian hostage, Robert Hall.
Aquino went to Camp Teodulfo Bautista in Jolo, Sulu on Wednesday and was briefed by Western Mindanao Command officials on the military campaign against the Abu Sayyaf.
“I wanted to meet with the ground commanders in order to get a more comprehensive picture of all the incidents here. And this was what we had discussed on how to refine the operations in order to make this more successfully and rescue the remaining hostages,” Aquino said.
Military officials said a total of seven hostages are still being held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf— five locals and two foreigners.
The military on Monday confirmed that the Abu Sayyaf had beheaded Hall after ransom demands were not met.
In late April, John Ridsdel, another Canadian, was killed by the Abu Sayyaf. His severed head was found in Sulu province.
The two Canadians, Hall’s Filipina girlfriend Marites Flor, and Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad were abducted by the Abu Sayyaf on Sept. 21 last year from a resort on Samal Island. With Sandy Araneta and Macon Ramos-Araneta
