Mopping-up operations under way in Zamboanga

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin (R) and Interior secretary Mar Roxas (C, in blue) and military chief of staff Emmanuel Bautista (L) talk to soldiers during a visit to Martha Street, the scene of some of the heaviest fighting during the stand-off with government forces in Zamboanga, on the southern island of Mindanao on September 28, 2013. AFP

ZAMBOANGA CITY – It ain’t over yet.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said here Saturday that while the fighting has died down and only a few stragglers remained of the Moro National Liberation Front guerrillas who occupied part of the city for three weeks, “work is not yet over” for government security forces in Zamboanga City.

Official figures showed that after 19 days of fighting, at least 199 persons had been killed—18 soldiers, 5 policemen, 12 civilians and 167 rebels—and 253 others wounded—167 soldiers, 14 policemen and 72 civilians. Officials counted at least 9,532 houses razed to the ground or bombed out, not counting houses burned down by fires on Friday.

What has clearly been accomplished thus far, according to Gazmin, has been the military’s mission to make sure no civilians remain hostage to the MNLF fighters still holding out in the rubble left of the seaside section of Zamboanga City which they occupied on September 9.  The area is not very far from City Hall.

“We have accounted for all the hostages,” he said.

Gazmin and Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas led media people on a visit to parts of Barangay Santa Catalina, one of the city districts that became a major battleground of government forces and MNLF fighters for the past 19 days. Gunshots were heard after Gazmin and Roxas left the area.

“The enemy’s reduced to about two or three remaining stragglers,” Gazmin said. Nonetheless, “We won’t leave the police here. The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) supports the police here and the local government.”

He said government forces were now engaged in “house-to-house clearing” or mopping up of the area the MNLF fighters had occupied, much of which has been razed to the ground by fire after uncontrolled fire during three weeks of fighting.

“We will search through the area. There might be booby traps or firearms left,” he said.

Roxas said government forces still had to clear 30 to 40 hectares of rubble before residents are allowed to return to what used to be their homes.

More than 100,000 residents have been displaced by the fighting. They are now sheltered in various evacuation centers, the biggest of which is the Joaquin Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex where some 70,000 evacuees are staying.

But with the fighting practically over, no one in the government has been able to say where, Habier Malik, the leader of the MNLF incursion was or what had become of him.

“We are searching for him among the dead,” said Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman.

Gazmin could not say if Malik was dead or has escaped.

“We are still identifying the bodies through all the tests required to confirm if Malik is one of them, and we are not yet certain as of the moment,” he said.

He said 100 bodies had been taken from the area and these were being examined to determine if Malik was among them. “It will take time and I have no idea for how long,” Gazmin added.

Roxas said Malik was not among those arrested, so “he could be among the dead.”

The MNLF guerrillas arrived in the city on Sept. 9. They claimed they were here simply to march and hold a rally at Plaza Pershing, which is in front of City Hall. Fully armed, the MNLF fighters’ presence caused panic among residents and subsequently led to clashes with security forces, who were initially apparently caught by surprise.

The MNLF fighters also held civilians whom they used as human shields against government troops closing on on them.

The MNLF fighters, who came from Basilan, Sulu and Zamboanga Sibugay, belong to a faction led by MNLF founder Nur Misuari, who had declared independence for his “Bangsamoro Republik” after charging that the government had failed to fully implement a peace agreement it signed in 1996 and which it supposedly was now seeking to supplant with an agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a brerakway faction of the MNLF.

At 1 p.m. Saturday, in a clear sign that Zambonga’s troubles were not over, another fire broke out in the Rio Hondo quarter.

On Friday, Superintendent Dominador Zabala Jr., chief of the city’s fire department, said the total number of houses and structures burned down had reached with a value running over P195 million. The number did not include houses burned down by fire Santa Catalina and Rio Hondo on Friday afternoon.

Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar, in an interview, said the fighting may be over for the military, “but for us civilians it’s not yet over.”

She said it would take about a week or two before areas can be declared safe for civilians to enter.

“In fact, we are seeking guidance and clearance so we can go back to the City Hall and work,” the mayor told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

“Where is Malik? I have been questioning them where is Malik,” she added.

The mayor urged to Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process to do its job “and ensure no more of this kind of crisis will happen in Zamboanga,” which did not suffer any serious damage at the height of the Moro secessionist rebellion waged by the MNLF during the 1970s.

“OPAPP should come in and they should have been here to continue this dialogue, not just with the MNLF but other groups too,” she said.

On Friday night, Climaco lambasted OPAPP for allegedly not acting on the problem, which led to what is happening in her city.

“There should be continuous negotiations and dialogue and it should never end. Sad to note, there is no presence of OPAPP. They should be here to openly dialogue and they should continue even beyond this crisis,” she said.

Chief Inspector Ariel Huesca, spokesperson of the police in Western Mindanao, said that as of noon Saturday, their records showed that a total of 18 soldiers and five policemen were killed in the fighting.

Huesca said 167 soldiers and 14 police forces were wounded.

At least 12 civilians were killed while 72 others were wounded, police said.

Police have also processed a total of 184 former hostages, Huesca said.

On the MNLF side, Huesca said, a total of 167 fighters were killed while 247 others were captured.

He added that only 24 MNLF forces were considered  surrenderees.

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