MANILA, Philippines—President Aquino said on Monday he has ordered intensified operations to go after those who killed 19 soldiers in Basilan last week and whom he identified as “criminal” elements, and not members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The President said the military and police operations were focused in Payao, Zamboanga Sibugay, and that they were after 10 members of the Abu Sayyaf led by Ibrahim Malat Sulayman and Dan Asnawi who were located and now “isolated” there by the military. But these criminal elements were joined by 150 other persons, he said.
“We will not pursue all-out-war; we will instead pursue all-out justice,” President Aquino said in a statement he read over state television and radio, rejecting calls from quarters to declare an all-out war on the MILF.
While he admitted it would be “tempting to join the chorus in calling for blood,” Aquino said that such an action would not be appropriate “at this point.”
Aquino said he would use “backdoor channels” to ensure that the MILF “knows who we are after” and that the government has asked for the group’s cooperation in this operation and got it.
“There is cooperation already in terms of certain personalities. They will not be a problem in effecting the arrest of people in the order of battle,” he told reporters.
The chief executive warned that “those who will block our forces in pursuit of legitimate operations cannot be differentiated from those we are after.”
“We send this message to the MILF that we are not out to get them but if some of their members participate, there is no exemption,” the President said.