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Thursday, March 03, 2005
Abu visits Sulu for 'truce assessment'
By Jun Feliciano
ARMED Forces chief of staff General Efren Abu flew to Sulu Tuesday to personally assess the current situation in area and recommend to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo whether to declare a ceasefire or not.
Abu was accompanied by Southcom Chief Lt. General Alberto Braganza and Western Mindanao Police Command Director Vidal Querol.
The President ordered Abu to conduct his own ocular assessment and evaluation of the nearly one month conflict in Sulu, following the clamor of several sectors for a truce to end the bloody clashes.
He is to submit his recommendation report to the President, following his intensive personal assessment of the strife-torn province.
"Most probably, the announcement of the President will come either tomorrow (today) or on Thursday," a top Southcom official, who requested anonymity, revealed.
The military's offensives in Sulu are continuous to hunt down the Moro attackers, who killed more than 30 soldiers, including an army battalion commander, since the violence flared up last February 7.
Braganza has vowed there will be no let up in the operation to get the killers of his soldiers who were "treacherously and deliberately" massacred in the ambush of 13 marine soldiers and four army soldiers during their simultaneous attacks of the military outposts in the three out-lying towns of Sulu, namely, Indanan, Patikul and Panamao.
The troops eventually captured the two main camps of the combined Misuari loyalist forces and the Abu Sayyaf terrorists group, following the massive air-strikes conducted by the airforce fighter planes and attack helicopters for five straight days to flush them out.
The military claimed the insurgents suffered heavy casualties during the bomb-run.
About 13,000 civilians were displaced at the height of the Sulu fighting.
(March 2, 2005 issue)
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