Bombing cues AFP to save BOL

Men carry the remains of a victim in an explosion in Lamitan, Basilan province, souther Philippines on Tuesday. A soldier, five militiamen and four villagers were killed by a powerful bomb that exploded in a van the tropps were inspecting amid threats of bombings in a southern province, military officials said. AP 97th IB DISPATCHED

As government is verifying information the bomb blast that killed 10 people in Lamitan City, Basilan in Mindanao was a suicide attack—a first in the Philippines if it was, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday prepared to save the gains of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) by dispatching the Army’s youngest and newly activated 97th Infantry Battalion to the troubled region.

AFP spokesman Col. Edgard Arevalo yesterday reiterated no sufficient evidence has yet surfaced on the possibility that the blast that killed a soldier, five members of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) and four civilians, including a child and a woman relative of a killed Cafgu personnel, was the handiwork of a suicide bomber.

Also wounded was one Cafgu personnel and six members of the 9th Scout Ranger Company.

Although there had been many cases of terror bombings in the Philippines for decades now, including recent series of bombings perpetrated by members or have been inspired by al Qaeda and then of late IS-influenced groups, no case of a suicide bombing has yet happened in the country.

Arevalo clarified that the car explosion that rocked Basilan Tuesday morning could not be ascertained if it was a suicide attack pending a thorough probe.

A white van containing IED (improvised explosive devices) exploded at around 5:30 a.m. in Barangay Bulanting, creating a big crater and affected nearby houses and farm animals, attesting to the impact of the blast.

Arevalo said the van was flagged down by soldiers manning a checkpoint. The van, however, tore into them and, as if on cue, exploded when one soldier led the CAFGU personnel to conduct an inspection on the vehicle. The incident led probers to consider a lone wolf suicide attack.

Arevalo, however, assured the public and advised the people not to panic, saying: “Let’s not add to the anxiety of the public with this explosion in Basilan.”

Basilan is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group which is notorious for kidnapping and banditry. It was home to the former “emir” of Islamic State in Southeast Asia who was killed by government forces last year.

The use of car bombs is also rare in Mindanao despite decades of separatist and Islamist violence which attracted foreign extremists to the region.

But Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Mujiv Hataman claimed the van’s driver “detonated the bomb sensing danger of capture.”

Also in a radio report, 74th Infantry Battalion chief Lt. Col. Jonas Templo said the attack could be a case of suicide bombing as the driver of the van was among those killed.

Lt. Gen. Arnel dela Vega, Western Mindanao Command chief, also committed to “exhaust every available resource under (his) disposal” to identify the perpetrators of the attack at “the soonest possible time.”

Malacañang did not discount the possibility of the bombs’ detonation as an aborted terrorist attack.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the latest terrorist attack in Basilan perpetrated in violation of our laws,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement.

“Authorities are now investigating the incident even as we vow to bring the perpetrators of this brazen attack to justice,” he added.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) also vowed to go after the masterminds of the bombing.

“We will mobilize all available resources at our disposal to bring the authors of this crime before the bar of justice. We urge the peace-loving people of Basilan not to be cowed by this single act of heinous terror but to keep calm but vigilant against any attempt to sow violence and disrupt our normal lives,” PNP spokesman Police Senior Supt. Benigno Durana Jr. said.

“We join the Filipino nation in strongly condemning this dastardly act of taking human lives for whatever motive its perpetrators may have,” the PNP added.

On the day of the Basilan explosion, the AFP sent off the Army’s 97th Infantry Battalion under the 1st Infantry Division at the Tabak Grandstand of the 1ID.

Major General Roseller Murillo, Commander of the 1ID, led the ceremony at the closing of the 97IB’s organizational training.

Murillo reminded the troops to continue being soldiers of peace and security by standing firm in guarding the welfare of the people, tapping the support and collective effort of stakeholders, carrying on in reaching out to communities and relaying to them government’s efforts and in striving hard to improve their skills.

The 97IB, composed of 485 strong and proficient officers and enlisted personnel, is slated to augment the 102nd Infantry Brigade (102IB) in the Zamboanga Peninsula after successfully completing the organizational training designed to significantly complement the counter-insurgency efforts of the AFP and anti-illegal drugs and anti-private armed groups (PAG) operations of other government agencies.

They will be on standby should a call is made to preserve peace in the region after the BOL was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last week. The AFP sees the Basilan bombing as a threat to the peace pact between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

As this developed, President Duterte is set to talk with Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding Chairman Nur Misuari to ensure peace in Mindanao through BOL will last.

Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go said the President intends to see Misuari soon.

The BOL is the result of the decades-long negotiations between the government and the MILF, a breakaway faction of the MNLF.

Actually, some factions of the MNLF already took part in the consultations for the BOL.

“The President has different plan of program. After the MILF, the MNLF will follow and Chairman Misuari will be the next whom the President will talk to,” Go said.

“Everybody knows that the President is fair. He treats all Filipinos equally and wants to make sure that we will have long and lasting peace in Mindanao,” he added.

Immediately after signing the BOL last week, the President announced his intention to see Misuari, the first governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The ARMM was the product of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the MNLF and government. It did not stop the armed conflict in the Mindanao region, however.

The President said he is willing to listen to what Misuari and his group, composed mostly of Tausugs, have to say after the BOL was enacted.

In 2013, supporters of Misuari launched what is now known as the Zambaoanga City siege to protest the peace agreement with the MILF. More than 200 MNLF members, soldiers and civilians were either killed or hurt during the three-week siege.