Place Sulu under martial law

TEN BATTALIONS or 5,000 soldiers have been deployed in Sulu province to go after the Abu Sayyaf bandits who beheaded two Canadian hostages after their ransom demand was not met.

Even if the government puts 100 battalions in Sulu, the Abu Sayyaf bandits will not be captured.

Why? Because the bandits have the support and sympathy of the local folk who are their relatives or fellow Muslims.

The solution is to put Sulu under martial law and place a total embargo on the island so that goods and people can’t enter or leave the province.

Navy ships and numerous “kumpit” —very fast Moro boats that carry barter-trade goods—can surround the island province to intercept people who try to leave.

Boats leaving or entering the province should be sunk after ample warning has been issued for them to stop.

The military can engage in hamletting, a strategy of isolating barrio people from contact with members of an armed group.

Hamletting was used by the British during the anti-insurgency campaign in Malaya in the 1950s and was highly successful.

The Malayan insurgents, deprived of their source of food and moral support, surrendered if they were not yet killed during battles with government troops.

The government can also offer hefty cash reward for people who pinpoint Abu Sayyaf bandits or their relatives in villages under the influence of the bandit group.

The relatives of Abu Sayyaf bandits might be held as pawns for the freedom of their hostages.

The financial reward will come from the military intelligence fund.

Of course, the strategic hamlet program should be scrapped after all the Abu Sayyaf bandits are either killed or captured.

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From incoming presidential spokesperson, lawyer Salvador Panelo has been moved to chief presidential legal adviser, a designation he will hold after Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte takes his oath as president.

Panelo is an unskilled mouthpiece of Mano Digong.

Instead of softening Mano Digong’s cuss-laden quarrel with the media, Panelo exacerbated it by adding his own two cents’ worth.

Good riddance!

***

Ernesto Abella, a former clergyman, has replaced Panelo while Martin Andanar, a famous broadcast journalist, as the incoming chief of the Presidential Communications Office.

I don’t know much about Abella, except that Mayor Digong once saved him from his kidnappers, but I know Andanar will be able to reconcile the President-elect with the media because he’s one of them.

Digong’s quarrel with the Manila media—he’s friendly with reporters in Davao City—stems from a misunderstanding or miscommunication.

When the Manila media get to know Mano Digong better they’ll find him very amiable and a man with a terrific sense of humor.

I should know; I used to dislike the guy.