Zamboanga Siege Ends
By Manny Pinol
As the government officially announced the end of the Zamboanga City siege staged by rogue members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) under Nur Misuari, the staggering damage of the attack comes to surface, figures so shocking even to seasoned chroniclers of the Mindanao conflict.
Today, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, citing the reports of disaster officials placed the official death toll was 224 dead and an undetermined number of people injured and wounded.
A total of 10,164 houses were destroyed or deliberately burned as the retreating MNLF troops tried to slow down military advance, a disaster which sent over 118,000 people to the evacuation centers, according to the PDI report.
Of the dead, 189 were believed members of the MNLF led by Misuari’s right-hand man Habier Malik, 23 soldiers and policemen and 12 civlians.
Entire villages in the coastal areas of Zamboanga City were burned down initially by MNLF troops and later by unidentified elements who were suspected by the civilians to be government operators implementing clearing operations.
As soldiers exchanged fire with remaining MNLF members described by the military as “stragglers” yesterday, fire broke out on Puerto Princesa Drive in Talon-Talon village, angering people who had heard about the clearing operations.
The PDI report said some residents were so angry they believed the fire had been deliberately set.
“Tell the government to stop this drama. All of us here are suffering and hurt,” village guard Abnasser Ladja told the Inquirer’s Julie Alipala.
Ladja’s two-story house was razed in the fire. His family had provided food for the Special Action Force and Marine troops during the fighting, Alipala reported.
“Is this how the government is repaying us?” Ladja asked.
Another fire broke out in Rio Hondo on Sunday afternoon and like Ladja in Talon-Talon, Jasil Isniradji wondered if the government was out to raze the entire coast, the PDI report added.
Ricky Carandang, head of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, said the crushing defeat of the MNLF in Zamboanga City had degraded Misuari’s ability to launch similar attacks in other parts of the country, according to the PDI.
While President Noynoy Aquino deserves praise and plaudits for personally handling the Zamboanga City crisis, Carandang’s assessment that government has degraded Misuari’s capability to create trouble was received with skepticism.
Independent observers believe that Misuari’s actions were just the initial indication of a brewing storm which is being whipped up by other Bangsamoro groups who refused to ride with or left out in the peace negotiations the government is undertaking with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MNLF).
“It is just the beginning of the dangerous days ahead,” said one veteran Mindanao observer.
(Photo caption: This Reuter photo shows government troops on top of a Zamboanga City mosque previously used as shelters of the MNLF attackers.)
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