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Home/ stevenwarran's Library/ Notes/ December 30, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Military to step up offensive vs Abu Sayyaf, by Noralyn Mustafa,

December 30, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Military to step up offensive vs Abu Sayyaf, by Noralyn Mustafa,

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December 30, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Military to step up offensive vs Abu Sayyaf, by Noralyn Mustafa,

 

THE military will step up its offensive against Muslim separatists after the murder of a Roman Catholic priest in Jolo, Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said yesterday. The killing of Rev. Benjamin Inocencio, chancellor of the Vicariate of Jolo, Thursday shows renewed activity by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas who had been relatively quiet following the launch last September of a fierce government offensive against them, Mercado said.

 

"With this murder, we need a more aggressive response," the defense chief said in a radio interview Friday. "We'll hunt them down." Police in Jolo have pinpointed the whereabouts of two suspects who escaped after Father Inocencio was shot dead behind the Jolo Cathedral on his way to its cooperative store to buy Christmas gifts. Maj. Mohammad Noe Alamia, Jolo police chief, said the two suspects served as lookouts during the shooting by the lone gunman identified as Ramil Amil. Pursuing soldiers killed Amil, whose body was claimed on Thursday afternoon by his elder brother, Roosevelt, an official of Barangay Takut-takut.

 

Alamia said a bystander was also killed and two others were wounded. He did not say who fired the shots that hit the bystanders or if the wounded included Inocencio's driver, Jun Pama, who suffered gunshot wounds.

 

Alamia said the suspects were members of "Jama-a," the urban arm of the Abu Sayyaf. He said the "Jama-a" continues to operate despite the military operation against the Abu Sayyaf in the province. Alamia said they have located the suspects, but he refused to say where.

 

Father Inocencio, 42, of Ugong, Pasig City, was shot twice in the head as he sat in his jeep behind the cathedral. As of yesterday, his body was lying in state at the Jolo Cathedral.

 

no open casket then, I suppose...

 

His remains will be taken to Metro Manila, where his family resides, then to Cotabato City where the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, his congregation, is based. He will be buried at the OMI cemetery in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao. In Cotabato City, Fr. Federico Labaglay, superior of the Oblates, said the death of Father Inocencio "is yet another sacrifice for us missionaries in the Vicariate of Jolo."

 

Father Labaglay noted the coincidences surrounding the death of Father Inocencio and Bishop Benjamin de Jesus three years ago. "Their names were Benjamin. While Bishop De Jesus was murdered on Feb. 4, 1997 in front of the cathedral, Father Benjie was killed at the back of the same church," Labaglay said.

 

He added that Father Benjie was surnamed Inocencio and he was murdered on Dec. 28, Holy Innocents Day. "May these sacrifices contribute to bringing about peace in Jolo and Mindanao," Labaglay told the Inquirer. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday condemned Father Inocencio's killing.

 

"We are one with peace-loving people who condemn the killing," MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu said in a telephone interview. "Mga walang konsensya ang pumatay sa kanya," ("Those who killed him have no conscience,") Kabalu added. The MILF is the biggest separatist group currently fighting for Muslim autonomy in the South. The Abu Sayyaf is a small breakaway faction of this group and is more extreme militarily and politically. With reports from Edwin Fernandez and Nico Alconaba, PDI Mindanao Bureau

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stevenwarran

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on Dec 30, 12