‘Hot pursuit’–Army calls the shots

The Army Chief, Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz, unilaterally declared on Thursday that the “area of temporary stay” (ATS) for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) no longer existed.

This was after the MILF refused to hand over its deputy commander in Basilan, Dan Laksaw Asnawi, who has been wanted by the government for the 2007 beheading of 14 Marine soldiers and the killing of 19 Army Special Forces troopers on Oct. 18. Both incidents occurred in Al-Barka, Basilan.

As a consequence of this defiance by the MILF, Ortiz warned that the Army would not stop “pursuit operations against criminals and bandits” seeking sanctuary in the ATS, a mechanism established by the peace process to deal with ceasefire violations and with bandits.

Under the Army’s directive, it would continue hot pursuit operations against those responsible for the Oct. 18 killings even if these outlaws were inside the ATS, otherwise called “MILF-influenced communities.”

The Army chief said the military no longer recognized the ATS anywhere and that it officially recognized only seven MILF camps in Maguindanao, Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur provinces as “MILF-influenced communities.”

The Army’s declaration defining its mandate and the scope of its punitive “hot pursuit” operations magnified the untenability of the government’s recently announced policy of rejecting “all-out” war against the MILF and embracing “all-out justice,” while pursuing peace talks.

The declaration put in the Army’s hands a wide range of authority in dismantling the mechanisms established by civil institutions in peace negotiations with the MILF.

Cycle of violence

The Army’s definition of its mandate within the matrix of the administration’s policy came after the Army launched a three-day, air-and-ground offensive on Oct. 24 against an MILF camp in Payao, Zamboanga Sibugay province.

The retaliation has unleashed a cycle of violence in the Mindanao conflict, making it more difficult to preserve ceasefire agreements and maintain a confidence-building climate.

This has made the President’s policy hostage to outbreaks of violence arising from breaches of the ceasefire, which both sides have accused each other of.

These developments demonstrate that the President has laid a trap for himself by adopting an apparently incompatible policy.

One aspect of the policy ties Mr. Aquino’s hands and prevents him from applying the coercive power of the state to weaken the insurgency and persuade the rebels to modulate their demands for autonomy within the territorial boundaries of the Republic.

The other aspect is that the policy gives the Army a free hand to dictate the tempo of the war.

The policy is deceptively  called “all-out justice,” when in fact what the government means by “justice” is punitive action to put fear into the hearts of the rebels.

Losing control

Caught in the bind of a confused policy, straddling the horses of war and of pacification, the peace process is being undermined by the Army’s actions.

It is clear that one of the consequences of this policy is that the President, the commander in chief, has lost control of the implementation of the policy.  He has empowered the Army to define its mandate in the Mindanao war.

The President has, in effect, left the matter of defining the rules of engagement to the Army chief. The Army is now calling the shots in the war.

The military has demanded that the MILF turn over Asnawi. For its part, the MILF refused to surrender him and asked for an investigation of the encounter, claiming the government troops did not coordinate their operations with the MILF.

In declaring that the military no longer recognized the ATS, Ortiz said: “We are mandated to implement the law. We are appealing to the MILF to surrender them. Our pursuit operations are ongoing. We are mandated to pursue the group of Malat and Asnawi anywhere they may be found.”

If the two are found inside “MILF-influenced communities, we are mandated to enforce the law to capture and neutralize them,” Ortiz said.

The Army said the seizure of the Payao camp was a victory “for us.” There were no signs when the military offensive would end. Nor were there signs that the MILF would submit to government demands to hand over the rebel leaders.

Stalemate hardens

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin has insisted that the arrest order against Asnawi will be enforced.

The stalemate on the ground hardened as the peace talks between the government and MILF panels resumed in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. The two panels were silent on the arrest order against Asnawi.

The talks stood on the verge of paralysis.