/ stevenwarran's Library/ Notes/ September 23, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Casualty reports just propaganda says Mercado,
September 23, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Casualty reports just propaganda says Mercado,
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September 23, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Casualty reports just propaganda says Mercado,
NOT ONLY a shooting war but a propaganda war as well is going on in Sulu, Secretary Orlando Mercado yesterday said. Mercado doubted the veracity of media reports that scores if not hundreds of civilians had either been killed or wounded in the ongoing military operations against the Abu Sayyaf. "We will not allow propaganda to prevail," he said. "They (Abu Sayyaf) should not be able to use this particular fora (media) to hit back at government because we are running after them."
The National Disaster Coordinating Council, chaired by Mercado, insists there are only four casualties, including an 11-year old. But it is determining whether they were indeed civilians. Mercado said claims that civilians had been hurt by the military offensive might be coming from people who passed themselves off as evacuees but were either sympathizers or new recruits of the Abu Sayyaf.
"We want to find out whether these people complaining as refugees are actually participants," Mercado said. "Remember, the Abu Sayyaf was able to recruit a great number of people to serve as their lookouts and couriers after it collected ransom."
It has been difficult for the media to verify casualties because the military has kept Sulu off limits to journalists. There are also doubts on the military's claim that government forces have not suffered a single fatality as against the 60 killed on the part of the Abu Sayyaf. The military, however, insists that six soldiers have been wounded.
Abu Sayyaf spokesperson Abu Sabaya said the government imposed the news blackout to hide hundreds of soldiers killed in action. Mercado, however, said: "We do not hide casualties. We do not hide our statistics."
Conflicting reports
He said he would go to Zamboanga City to check on the conflicting reports about civilian casualties. "We have to determine this because we all know there is a propaganda war going on," he said, adding that civilians would be helped "regardless of whether their inclination is for the Abu Sayyaf or otherwise."
Mercado later said that only two civilians had been killed. He noted that while there were reports about civilians being tortured and killed and 10 people killed on a boat while fleeing the island, these were not reported to the local governments, the Church and health officials in Sulu. He said the Jolo police were investigating the corpse left outside the radio station. But the death is believed to be a result of a family feud. The two bodies found at a garbage dump and a woman who was shot dead in her home are also being investigated.
The Office of the Muslim Affairs in Sulu has received reports that the bombings have killed five residents in Barangay Sarak. Isad Alfad Jr., regional director of the OMA in Sulu, said some evacuees, who reported the killings to provincial authorities in Sulu, found the rotting bodies.
Military abuses
Several stories of alleged military abuses also surfaced yesterday. Ulah Sadarami, 40, a farmer, said soldiers shot and killed his wife, Sinning, while they were standing in front of their house in Barangay Pantao on Sept. 16. He said the soldiers were running after a resident in fatigues when they fired their weapons.
"They mistook her for an Abu Sayyaf and shot her in the back," Sadarami told the INQUIRER. He said that aside from himself and his wife, a group of evacuees, who were walking nearby, were also hit. Several neighbors of Sadarami brought him to the Sulu Regional Hospital for treatment. Ainni Mohammad, 7, narrated how a bomb dropped by a Philippine Air Force plane wounded him and his playmates in Barangay Mahika, Talipao town on Sept. 16.
"The bomb exploded when it fell to the ground. One of my playmates was hurt too," Mohammad said in Tausug. He said another bomb landed on a house, completely destroying it. Luckily, the house was empty at that time. Alfad said these allegations of military abuses should be investigated immediately. "We want to help the military because we totally support its campaign against the Abu Sayyaf but we do not want it to make an enemy out of Sulu residents," he said. Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan has created a civil-military assistance center to thresh out problems between Sulu residents and the military.
Tales of evacuees
Accounts of numerous people wounded also came from Jolo residents who arrived by Navy craft yesterday in Zamboanga City. Arcera Dizon said she saw an old man who had been killed in the attack but did not know how. "None of the Abu Sayyaf members are dying, but there are many civilians (affected.) There are also many houses that have been destroyed," said a man who refused to give his name.
"We saw dead people yesterday. It is very chaotic there," said another elderly woman who also requested anonymity. Bombs or shells in the town of Talipao have wounded several people, 20 kilometers east of Jolo town, evacuees from Talipao told Agence France Presse.
They said the wounded could not be brought to the Jolo town hospital and were being treated locally. There was no information on how many had been hurt or when. At a school converted into an evacuation center in Indanan near Jolo, villagers said they saw people wounded or killed after the military launched its assault on the Abu Sayyaf rebels.
They were unwilling to give numbers or say if any of the casualties were Abu Sayyaf members. The number of evacuees, like the number of civilian casualties, cannot be clearly ascertained. A total of 9,470 residents from the towns of Panamao, Indanan, Talipao, Maimbing and Patikul have fled the fighting, according to the Sulu Provincial Disaster Coordinating Relief Center.
Displaced
But Vice President and Social Welfare Secretary Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said the fighting had displaced up to 15,000 civilians. Mercado said 4,823 families fled Indanan, Talipao, and Patikul although Tan said there were 3,200 families from Patikul, Panamao, Parang and Indanan. Maydelyn Walli Bahjin, chief of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Sulu, reported that the evacuees were housed in 31 evacuation centers in the towns of Patikul, Indanan, Panamao, Talipao and Parang. But Mercado said only 11 of the centers were being used. In Panamao town, all the residents of Tayungan, Mababay, Sarak and Sawali villages have left.
"The bomb exploded when it fell to the ground. One of my playmates was hurt too," Mohammad said in Tausug. He said another bomb landed on a house, completely destroying it. Luckily, the house was empty at that time. Alfad said these allegations of military abuses should be investigated immediately. "We want to help the military because we totally support its campaign against the Abu Sayyaf but we do not want it to make an enemy out of Sulu residents," he said. Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan has created a civil-military assistance center to thresh out problems between Sulu residents and the military.
Tales of evacuees
Accounts of numerous people wounded also came from Jolo residents who arrived by Navy craft yesterday in Zamboanga City. Arcera Dizon said she saw an old man who had been killed in the attack but did not know how. "None of the Abu Sayyaf members are dying, but there are many civilians (affected.) There are also many houses that have been destroyed," said a man who refused to give his name.
"We saw dead people yesterday. It is very chaotic there," said another elderly woman who also requested anonymity. Bombs or shells in the town of Talipao have wounded several people, 20 kilometers east of Jolo town, evacuees from Talipao told Agence France Presse.
They said the wounded could not be brought to the Jolo town hospital and were being treated locally. There was no information on how many had been hurt or when. At a school converted into an evacuation center in Indanan near Jolo, villagers said they saw people wounded or killed after the military launched its assault on the Abu Sayyaf rebels.
They were unwilling to give numbers or say if any of the casualties were Abu Sayyaf members. The number of evacuees, like the number of civilian casualties, cannot be clearly ascertained. A total of 9,470 residents from the towns of Panamao, Indanan, Talipao, Maimbing and Patikul have fled the fighting, according to the Sulu Provincial Disaster Coordinating Relief Center.
Displaced
But Vice President and Social Welfare Secretary Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said the fighting had displaced up to 15,000 civilians. Mercado said 4,823 families fled Indanan, Talipao, and Patikul although Tan said there were 3,200 families from Patikul, Panamao, Parang and Indanan. Maydelyn Walli Bahjin, chief of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Sulu, reported that the evacuees were housed in 31 evacuation centers in the towns of Patikul, Indanan, Panamao, Talipao and Parang. But Mercado said only 11 of the centers were being used. In Panamao town, all the residents of Tayungan, Mababay, Sarak and Sawali villages have left.
"These villages have become virtual ghost towns," Alfad said. He said residents left when the military bombed their villages on the first day of the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf. "There are no people around. All is quiet," said Preciosa Chiong, Sulu coordinator of the Philippine National Red Cross. She was part of a team that visited Panamao on Tuesday.
Relief and medical teams have not visited many of the 31 evacuation centers in Panamao, Indanan, Talipao, Maimbung and Patikul. "We don't know the conditions of the evacuees. The military does not allow us to visit the evacuation centers yet," said Dr. Ramla Sandag-Jailani, Sulu assistant provincial health officer. With reports from Carolyn O. Arguillas and Jonathan F. Ma, PDI Mindanao Bureau; and AFP
Relief and medical teams have not visited many of the 31 evacuation centers in Panamao, Indanan, Talipao, Maimbung and Patikul. "We don't know the conditions of the evacuees. The military does not allow us to visit the evacuation centers yet," said Dr. Ramla Sandag-Jailani, Sulu assistant provincial health officer. With reports from Carolyn O. Arguillas and Jonathan F. Ma, PDI Mindanao Bureau; and AFP
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