The farce in Mindanao

Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan's admission that Filipino soldiers could not neutralize the Abu Sayyaf bandits in Basilan proves how inept the Armed Forces of the Philippines is. On the other hand, the AFP's feigning ineptitude may be a ploy to justify the presence of American forces in Mindanao's war zones. Or does it?

Adan admitted that the presence of American troops would expedite the delivery of military equipment needed by the AFP. He said that the usual waiting time was three years but "the military exercises would cut this short." He even expressed apprehension that in three years, the Abu Sayyaf and other extremist secessionist groups could "lord it over Mindanao" --- a clear admission of the AFP's inutility.

In the meantime, about 650 American servicemen are expected to arrive or are already in Basilan and Zamboanga, including 160 elite Special Forces, and are expected to stay from 6 months to a year. While the US troops will not engage directly in combat, they would accompany local soldiers in the pursuit of the guerillas and would fire back if attacked. It is as if the Abu Sayyaf will only target Filipino soldiers if cornered in a fierce firefight.

On the other hand, the government stressed -- as if Filipinos do not think -- that efforts to rescue the American missionary couple held by the Abu Sayyaf and to crush Muslim terrorists will have nothing to do with the ongoing Philippine-US military exercise in Basilan.

This farce in Mindanao is aggravated by the fact that the Abu Sayyaf has only around 80 hardcore fighters, and obviously none of them have graduated from the elite Philippine Military Academy or the West Point. Yet despite that, they have staved off military operations against them for more than a decade spanning three Filipino presidents.

The inordinate attention that the Philippines obtains over this Abu Sayyaf brouhaha from the international community speaks more about Filipinos than it does the enemy. It depicts a people immobilized by mediocrity and ineptitude, of a government requiring Uncle Sam to solve conflicts in its own backyard, and of a citizenry playing blind over this clear infringement of national sovereignty. But do we really have national sovereignty if we cannot even quell bandits like the Abu Sayyaf on our own?

Sadly, the farce in Mindanao mirrors the ludicrousness in the Philippines. *

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