Page 2 of
2 Philippines: Success on the
forgotten front By Noel
Tarrazona
resume this month the
so-called Balikatan ("shoulder to shoulder") joint
military exercises in the southern province of
Jolo - where Janjalani was recently killed.
More than 300 US troops are expected to
participate in the exercises, and will reportedly
provide technical assistance to the Philippine
Light Reactions Companies, an elite composite team
of military personnel. Washington is also expected
to supply the Philippine military with new
helicopters and special equipment for
night warfare.
The
two sides first established the joint exercises in
2002, enabled through the Visiting Forces
Agreement, which paved the way for Washington to
extend its global counter-terrorism campaign into
Southeast Asia. More than 600 US troops took part
in the original six-month joint exercises in
Zamboanga City, where they also established a
counter-terrorism training camp. They have since
also conducted series of joint military exercises
and humanitarian assistance in Basilan province.
With the US and Philippine militaries now
set to intensify their cooperative efforts, the
diminished Abu Sayyaf has reached a critical
juncture. Philippine military intelligence reports
reviewed by Asia Times Online say that the group
is now in the process of selecting Janjalani's
successor, which should be decided in the coming
weeks. The three main candidates are Radullan
Sahiron, a septuagenarian one-armed fighter who
has held various senior posts in the group's
hierarchy; Abu Pula, the group's current chief
strategist; and Isnilon Hapilon, who helped lead a
kidnapping-for-ransom plot of three American and
17 Filipino tourists on Palawan Island in 2001.
Some political analysts and military
insiders believe that after Janjalani's death the
group could splinter on factional lines. Armed
Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon contends
that none of the three candidates bidding for the
leadership are as ideologically driven as the
deceased Janjalani, the younger brother of the
group's radical founder.
Other senior
military officials believe the Abu Sayyaf may
still have some fight left. Major Robert Velasco,
who has been fighting the group since 1993,
believes a total military solution to the
insurgency is unlikely.
"We have finally
known the enemy, and knowing the enemy tells us
that it is not just men or leaders like
Janjalani," he told Asia Times Online. "The real
enemy here is ideology and the existing social
conditions that contribute to the acceptability
and growth of that ideology."
The US has
provided funds to help local governments alleviate
poverty and stoke economic activity in the
impoverished region. Ben Loong, Sulu's governor,
says the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) has recently contributed more
than P100 million (about $2 million) to build
roads, irrigation systems, multi-purpose social
centers and medical clinics. He says those
humanitarian-oriented projects will accelerate
once the joint military exercises commence this
month.
The reason the Philippine
government and military have failed to uproot the
Abu Sayyaf over the past 15 years is that the
group has strong support among the local
communities, particularly in Sulu and Basilan
provinces, where it heavily recruits for new young
fighters. Ibarra Malonzo, president of the
Kasanyangan Foundation, a non-governmental
organization dedicated to conflict resolution and
economic development, believes a predominantly
armed rather than hearts-and-minds approach will
never succeed in the historically restive region.
"For every rebel leader killed in a
battle, his son will inherit the bitterness
against the government and a new and eventually a
stronger rebel group will be formed to avenge the
death of their fathers," he said.
Noel Tarrazona is a Zamboanga
City-based journalist.
(Copyright 2007
Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
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