Palace: Sulu offensives not 'all-out' war
MANILA, Philippines - Press Secretary Jesus Dureza on Friday clarified that the renewed offensives in Sulu is not an "all-out war" as projected in media.
He said that the operations are aimed against the kidnappers of television journalist Cecilia Victoria "Ces" Drilon and three others.
The remark came as some peace advocates and church groups warned government against massive government operations.
One of the groups - The Bantay Ceasefire, a grassroots ceasefire monitoring arm of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) - has called on the government and the two big Moro fronts in Mindanao to "strengthen coordination" before the conduct of any military pursuit operation against the kidnappers of Prof. Octavio Dinampo, Ces Drilon and her camera crew in Sulu.
The call was aired by Bantay Ceasefire coordinator Rexall Kaalim who emphasized that the government troops and the Moro fronts have to "ensure that the military operation against the kidnappers should not jeopardize" the peace processes with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which both claim presence in the island-province of Sulu.
But "more important than the combatants are the civilians who would become another collateral damage of the war," Kaalim said while citing the old woman, Biya Bahari, who was treated with shrapnel wounds when government troops bombarded an alleged Abu Sayyaf lair in Indanan, Sulu.
Kaalim, in a phone interview from Jolo, said that Sulu-based civil society organizations "are very worried" as they anticipated "massive displacements of civilians in any event the soldiers would fail to exercise prudence in running after kidnappers."
On Thursday, the president of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines - Archbishop Angel Lagdameo - said a military offensive against the bandits will only worsen the conflict in Mindanao.
Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma said the government should look deeper into what prompted the perpetrators to conduct the kidnapping, saying political and economic reasons may be the root causes of the incident.
On Friday, Malacañang - through Dureza - clarified that the offensives are more of a "surgical operation" focused on specific targets identified through a video footage that was made public by police Friday.
He added that based on reports, the kidnap group could be composed of around 14 to 16 people.
He also said that Malacanang is leaving it to the police to determine and prove the alleged involvement of some officials like Indanan, Sulu mayor Alvarez Isnaji and his son Haider, who were earlier charged as primary suspects in the kidnapping.
The older Alvarez was the negtiator for the release of Drilon and her crew Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama and Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo, while his son was one of the emissaries.
Dureza said the Cabinet security cluster was briefed by PNP Director General Avelino Razon on the developments on the kidnapping and shown some of the evidence against the Isnajis, including photographs the mayor holding the P5-million ransom money.
The mayor reportedly got P3 million while the P2 million had been handed to the kidnappers.
He, meanwhile, expressed doubts about the involvement of Sulu vice governor Lady Ann Sahidula whom he said he personally talked to after videos and pictures showing her with the Isnajis after the ransom had reportedly been paid for the release of the four.
He said Sahidula informed him that she had the event video taped, but was not sure if it was the same video that the police had.
He said Sahidula informed him that she left after the incident, uncomfortable with what transpired.
Dureza said pursuit operations is being conducted by authoriities including the collating of additional evidence to support the cases.
He stressed that "no one should be spared in applying the law." - Romy Elusfa, GMANews.TV
He said that the operations are aimed against the kidnappers of television journalist Cecilia Victoria "Ces" Drilon and three others.
The remark came as some peace advocates and church groups warned government against massive government operations.
One of the groups - The Bantay Ceasefire, a grassroots ceasefire monitoring arm of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) - has called on the government and the two big Moro fronts in Mindanao to "strengthen coordination" before the conduct of any military pursuit operation against the kidnappers of Prof. Octavio Dinampo, Ces Drilon and her camera crew in Sulu.
The call was aired by Bantay Ceasefire coordinator Rexall Kaalim who emphasized that the government troops and the Moro fronts have to "ensure that the military operation against the kidnappers should not jeopardize" the peace processes with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which both claim presence in the island-province of Sulu.
But "more important than the combatants are the civilians who would become another collateral damage of the war," Kaalim said while citing the old woman, Biya Bahari, who was treated with shrapnel wounds when government troops bombarded an alleged Abu Sayyaf lair in Indanan, Sulu.
Kaalim, in a phone interview from Jolo, said that Sulu-based civil society organizations "are very worried" as they anticipated "massive displacements of civilians in any event the soldiers would fail to exercise prudence in running after kidnappers."
On Thursday, the president of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines - Archbishop Angel Lagdameo - said a military offensive against the bandits will only worsen the conflict in Mindanao.
Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma said the government should look deeper into what prompted the perpetrators to conduct the kidnapping, saying political and economic reasons may be the root causes of the incident.
On Friday, Malacañang - through Dureza - clarified that the offensives are more of a "surgical operation" focused on specific targets identified through a video footage that was made public by police Friday.
He added that based on reports, the kidnap group could be composed of around 14 to 16 people.
He also said that Malacanang is leaving it to the police to determine and prove the alleged involvement of some officials like Indanan, Sulu mayor Alvarez Isnaji and his son Haider, who were earlier charged as primary suspects in the kidnapping.
The older Alvarez was the negtiator for the release of Drilon and her crew Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama and Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo, while his son was one of the emissaries.
Dureza said the Cabinet security cluster was briefed by PNP Director General Avelino Razon on the developments on the kidnapping and shown some of the evidence against the Isnajis, including photographs the mayor holding the P5-million ransom money.
The mayor reportedly got P3 million while the P2 million had been handed to the kidnappers.
He, meanwhile, expressed doubts about the involvement of Sulu vice governor Lady Ann Sahidula whom he said he personally talked to after videos and pictures showing her with the Isnajis after the ransom had reportedly been paid for the release of the four.
He said Sahidula informed him that she had the event video taped, but was not sure if it was the same video that the police had.
He said Sahidula informed him that she left after the incident, uncomfortable with what transpired.
Dureza said pursuit operations is being conducted by authoriities including the collating of additional evidence to support the cases.
He stressed that "no one should be spared in applying the law." - Romy Elusfa, GMANews.TV
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