No state of emergency in Sulu, says Duterte

GESTURE OF SYMPATHY President Duterte salutes the photo of Cpl. Omar Raddulan, one of 15 soldiers killed by Abu Sayyaf bandits. JULIE S. ALIPALA / INQUIRER MINDANAO

President Duterte on Wednesday rejected proposals for him to declare a state of emergency in Sulu province to rapidly crush the Abu Sayyaf bandit group.

The bandits killed 15 soldiers in a clash at Patikul town in Sulu on Monday as the Philippines observed National Heroes’ Day.

It was the government’s largest single-day combat loss under Mr. Duterte, who last week ordered the military to destroy the Abu Sayyaf after the bandits beheaded an 18-year-old male captive whose family failed to pay them P1 million in ransom.

A massive military offensive followed the President’s order, leading to the killing of 30 bandits, including an influential leader.

The Abu Sayyaf, however, struck back on Monday, killing 15 soldiers at a clash in Patikul and reportedly beheading three of them.

Asked if he would relent to a longstanding proposal by military officials to place Sulu under a state of emergency to allow government forces to arrest the bandits more easily and take tougher action against local officials conniving with the Abu Sayyaf, Mr. Duterte said he would not.

“No, it’s just a punitive police action by the security forces of the government. The magnitude of the trouble there does not warrant anything except the industry of the [Armed Forces of the Philippines] and the [Philippine National Police],” Mr. Duterte told reporters at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, where he met 120 Filipino migrant workers who lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia.

‘Cannibalism’

After the deaths of the 15 soldiers, Malacañang said there would be no letup in the military operation against the Abu Sayyaf.

The President, who visited the wake of the slain soldiers in Zamboanga City on Wednesday, lashed out at the Abu Sayyaf for beheading some of the soldiers.

He said a warrior needed only one bullet to kill an enemy.

“Do you think Allah would be happy to see you do that? In the name of Allah, you kill and you unnecessarily mutilate the body of a human being?” he said.

Mr. Duterte said the Tausug—the indigenous people in Sulu—were known as warriors and not as people who would mutilate the bodies of their enemies.

“It has deteriorated into some kind of cannibalism,” he said. There is no need to add to the grief of the family by destroying the bodies of those who were killed, he later said. He would never allow the government to undertake such “brutality” and “cruelty,” he added.

He said he had told soldiers that if their enemy had fallen, there was no need to waste any more time or bullets on them. “Move on to fight another day,” he said.

AFP: No beheadings

The military, however, denied on Wednesday that some of the soldiers were beheaded.

In particular, Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, spokesperson for the AFP, denied that Pfc. Jison Falcasantos was beheaded. He said there was an attempt to cut Falcasantos’ head, but timely arrival by reinforcement troops prevented the beheading.

The military is sending five more battalions, or some 2,500 troops, to go after the bandits.

The Abu Sayyaf is believed to be holding 16 foreign and five Filipino hostages.

During his Zamboanga visit, Mr. Duterte condoled with the families of the slain soldiers and  promised them cash and livelihood assistance from the government.

“I am sorry this has to happen. I don’t want it to happen again,” he said.

He said he had directed the Department of the Interior and Local Government to accept the widows of slain soldiers as government employees.

They would be automatically included in the government’s conditional cash transfer program, which would entitle them to monthly cash assistance, he said. They would also get a rice allowance.

Mr. Duterte promised as well to take care of the schooling of the soldiers’ children, if they enroll in state colleges or public schools. With reports from Cynthia D. Balana in Manila and Julie S. Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao