It seems the dreaded Abu Sayyaf is bringing the battleground up North. Actually, in Eastern Visayas—the PNP and AFP discovered when they foiled a Sayyaf group’s attempt to raid what used to be a sleepy little known town in Bohol. Nine casualties on both sides were reported during the firefight in Inabanga, Bohol last week.
From their sanctuary down South in Mindanao where they plunder, pillage and kidnap foreigners and local residents for ransom, the Abu Sayyaf broke new ground in Bohol. If the Abu Sayyaf were able to slip into Bohol undetected, can they be far behind in pulling off something more daring and dramatic in Metro Manila?
The National Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Immigration’s arrest of a Kuwaiti and a Syrian suspected of having links to the international terror group ISIS would confirm our greatest fear terrorists are planning to strike next in Metro Manila. They were arrested in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.
We have seen how these terrorists attack big cities like New York, London, Paris, Nice, Brussels, and Frankfurt. Why not Manila in the only Christian country in the whole of Asia? Recall that there was a plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II during his papal visit to Manila in the early 1980s. This was, fortunately, discovered and aborted.
We have to credit the US for its intelligence work warning Americans to avoid not only Mindanao but also parts of Eastern Visayas. How the Americans were able to pinpoint Bohol and Cebu as a possible points of terrorist attack is uncanny. Australia, Britain and Canada followed the US warning and cautioned their own nationals to avoid certain areas in Mindanao and the Visayas. Our own military and police network kept assuring the public that authorities were on top of the situation in keeping the people safe.
The AFP and the PNP nonetheless were able to deploy swiftly in Bohol to prevent the ASG band from occupying the town. Our intelligence community should keep a watch on Filipinos returning from their respective provinces for the long Holy Week vacation. Terrorists in Europe merged themselves with the flood of migrants fleeing the fighting in Syria and Iraq.
Gen. Restituto Padilla, AFP spokesman, explained the ASG foray into Bohol—a result of government troops’ pressure on known Sayyaf lairs in Sulu, Basilan and parts of South Cotabato.
But why Bohol? Abu Sayyaf would have scored big and made a big impact had it succeeded. The province has become popular with foreign and local tourists for its beaches and resorts. Bohol is also known for the famous tarsier—and, of course, Chocolate Hills.
Can you imagine the international headlines if foreign tourists were captured in this tourist destination and beheaded for non-payment of ransom?
A looming war
Against the worsening threat from the Abu Sayyaf terrorists, there are looming war clouds in Southeast Asia because of North Korea’s nuclear development program. This has become a global concern not only to America, because Pyongyang threatened to fire its long-range ballistic missiles to the US West Coast. For the Trump administration, a military option is on the table. Following its air strike on a Syrian airbase, the US just might make good on its threat to undertake preemptive military action on North Korea.
Syria crossed the line when Bashar al-Assad ordered the chemical attack on civilians in rebel strongholds. The United States had to send a strong signal to Syria that it cannot continue to butcher innocent men, women and children without suffering the consequences. The use of chemical weapons is banned by the United Nations in any kind of warfare such as the civil war now raging in Syria.
US warplanes bombed the Syrian airbase where planes carrying the chemical weapon was launched. Russia as is customary of railing against US action condemned the attack and issued the usual statement of “serious response” if the US does it again. But that’s all the Russians can do. It is a spent force since the fall of the Soviet Union empire. A shooting war may not happen yet but a return to the Cold War of the 50s between the US and Russia may be in the offing.
North Korea could be next. Pyongyang leader Kim Jong-Un has been strident in threatening to send ballistic cruise missiles into South Korea, Japan and the US West Coast. Now that may be more than a red line for US President Trump. Alarm bells are ringing that the military option available to the US could be served to North Korea.
What happened in Syria could happen in North Korea if China does not rein its ally and ward Kim. There are unverified rumors China and the ruling military cabal inside Pyongyang could and might topple the unmanageable Kim who is the face of a long dynasty ruler.
All in the name of peace in the region? People who live dangerously should watch their backs and those closest to them. History showed how Brutus and his cohorts knifed Julius Ceasar in the back. Ceasar’s now famous last words were “Et tu Brutus?”
