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September 30, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Military admits blunders in Jolo, by Donna Cueto,

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September 30, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Military admits blunders in Jolo, by PDI Mindanao Bureau and Donna Cueto,

AFTER a frank assessment of the progress of the military assault on the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu, defense and military officials yesterday appeared resigned to the idea that their blitzkrieg was turning into a protracted war that could last until Christmas. 

And in a surprising series of remarks, officials admitted that the military had made several blunders in launching the assault. "Maybe the whole situation might be stabilized (by) yearend . . . before Christmas or before December," National Security Adviser Alexander Aguirre said in Malacañang after emerging from a meeting on the Sulu operation and the Mindanao crisis. 

"Maybe . . . a few months, a few more weeks, maybe a month or two," he also said when asked about the duration of the assault. "Let us redefine the meaning of one week. It could be one long week," Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said half-jokingly in Jolo, five days after announcing that the assault on the Abu Sayyaf would be over in "less than a week." 

In a candid briefing in Jolo, Maj. Gen. Narciso Abaya, head of Joint Task Force Trident, said that the military had underestimated the capability of the Abu Sayyaf to launch a guerrilla war against the bigger, better armed military. 

Abaya reported to Mercado and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Angelo Reyes that he would not meet the schedule to rescue 17 remaining hostages and flush out the kidnappers from their jungle hideouts. "Earlier I promised President Estrada that the military operation would be over within three days to one week. I made the wrong assumption," Abaya confessed in the briefing in Camp Teodulfo Bautista yesterday morning.  

He admitted that the military had erred in believing the bandits would fight back instead of fleeing into Jolo's jungles. "We were anticipating that they would resist initially, but they never did," he said. "Instead they scampered away and broke into small groups." Mercado joked that the gunmen had been running so quickly that they should have entered the Olympics to win a gold medal for the Philippines. 

"To be frank about it, the military cordon is inadequate physically," Aguirre said in Malacañang, as he admitted that Abu Sayyaf members could have slipped through the naval cordon around Sulu and escaped to other provinces. 

Abaya said that the Abu Sayyaf's "mastery of the terrain" and "mass-based support" had given it the upper hand, while government troops were perceived by Jolo residents as "occupation forces." "We did not have the support of the local residents. We did not have time to work with them," Abaya said. 

The lack of support from residents proved disadvantageous to the task force, he said, because the Abu Sayyaf received good information from the residents on military plans. 

Still optimistic 

Despite the setbacks, Abaya was optimistic that the military would gain the upper hand against the Abu Sayyaf in a week's time. "We believe we are progressively closing in on the Abu Sayyaf," Abaya said. But "it may take some time because it's very hard to engage an enemy that keeps on running." 

Aguirre also told reporters that the operation had so far been "effective" in the sense that the military had seized "lots of firearms" from the Abu Sayyaf, and reduced the kidnappers' capability to commit terrorist acts. He also said that the troops had "successfully" but "not completely" neutralized the Abu Sayyaf leadership, "so we have to pursue operations." 

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie 

The troops are running after about 700 "core group members" of the kidnapping group and 4,000 new recruits, Abaya said. The latter, he said on Monday, had broken up into smaller groups and blended with the civilian population but the core group was still "intact." 

Yesterday, he said the core group had divided itself into three smaller groups headed by Galib "Commander Robot" Andang, Abu Sabaya and Titing Aggah Noman. Abaya said he had also broken up the 4,000-man Task Force Trident into three groups to counter the guerrilla strategy employed by the kidnappers. 

"Task Force Alpha" is headed by Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio of the 1st Marine Brigade and deployed near Luuk town. Teodosio led an assault on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the so-called "Ramos Highway war" in May. "Task Force Bravo," composed of Army soldiers, is deployed in Indanan, while "Task Force Charlie" is on standby. 

'Disadvantageous' 

On Monday morning, Abaya had refused to give a new timeframe for accomplishing the mission, admitting for the first time that the enemy was "very elusive." He told 37 journalists from 28 media outfits who went on a "guided tour" of Jolo on Monday that the government launched the operation from a "disadvantageous position." 

A government source said that the military failed to gain the support of the people because they did not touch base with local officials and religious leaders. The source said that while most Jolo residents initially supported the military assault, the support dwindled by the day due to a growing number of reports of alleged civilian deaths and due to the inconvenience of a travel and communications ban. 

Abaya said that the Abu Sayyaf knew beforehand that troops would land in Jolo on Sept. 16. Residents said Abu Sayyaf sympathizers were able to feed the information to Commander Robot and Abu Sabaya. 

Abaya said the ideal situation would have been having the troops in place before commencing operations. "The probability that we would catch them . . . (would have been) higher," he said. 

Killed, escaped 

Two soldiers from the Army's 55th Infantry Battalion were killed Thursday in an encounter with Abu Sayyaf gunmen near Indanan town. The military claims that more than 111 Abu Sayyaf members, including two commanders--Habib Sabtal Arola, a commander who participated in the Sipadan kidnapping in April, and Radulan Sajiron, the one-armed Abu Sayyaf leader--have been killed in 36 major engagements. 

Officials said they had recovered at least 55 bodies. Abaya said Abu Sabaya escaped to the mountains near Panamao municipality on Sept. 19 and later moved to Patikul town, escaping the military dragnet. Robot, meanwhile, moved toward Mt. Tumantangis near Indanan municipality. 

Hostages 

Abaya said TV evangelist Wilde Almeda and 11 members of the Jesus Miracle Crusade were spotted by residents with Andang's group near Mt. Tumantangis on Sept. 23. Abaya said Noman, who is holding the three Malaysian hostages, is in a hideout near Patikul. 

Abaya said the military was still convinced that American hostage Jeffrey Schilling was being held in an area near Patikul and not in Basilan as rumored. But asked whether there was a chance that the kidnappers had escaped with Schilling, Abaya replied: "It's a very long coastline. There is a possibility." 

He also said it was possible that Sabaya, Schilling's captor, had escaped to Basilan and left the American hostage behind in Sulu. He said residents saw "a very weak" Schilling in an area between the Patikul and Luuk on Sept. 16. 

He said 14 Navy ships were deployed on the eastern and western sides of Sulu to prevent the Abu Sayyaf from escaping to Basilan. Asked by a reporter whether the troops had found any ransom money so far, Abaya said: "(No.) How I wish we had found it but that is not our mission." 

80,000 evacuees 

The number of residents who have fled the fighting has swelled to more than 80,000, according to Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan. The Sulu disaster- coordinating center reported that more than 31,000 evacuees have yet to  receive relief aid and medicine. 

The travel ban between Jolo and Zamboanga City was lifted yesterday but only a few civilians and journalists made it on the first trip to the island. Cellular phone links with Jolo remained cut yesterday to limit communications among the Abu Sayyaf. 

Journalists are now allowed to travel to Jolo but will only have access to certain areas and will need military supervision, officials said. "We're going to balance between giving access and preventing the rebels from replenishing their inventory of hostages," Mercado said. 

Despite the lifting of the travel and media ban, a Weesam Express ferry carried only half its capacity of 200 passengers when it made its first voyage to Jolo at 8:30 a.m. yesterday. 

Call for probe 

In Davao City, Isabela Rep. Heherson Alvarez proposed an immediate congressional probe on the "whole conduct of the war" in Sulu. Alvarez questioned the wisdom of the President's decision in launching the massive assault. 

He said the operation might have been more effective and less expensive if it had been a commando-type attack. But Senate President Franklin Drilon said any congressional investigation into alleged military abuses would have to wait until the completion of the operation. Reports from Froilan Gallardo, Noralyn Mustafa, Alexander Young, Jowel F. Canuday, Carolyn O. Arguillas, Aquiles Z. Zonio, Julie Alipala-Inot and Jonathan F. Ma, PDI Mindanao Bureau

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