Aquino hemming and hawing—Ramos

Former President Fidel V. Ramos removes his Barong to show his shirt with SAF seal during the Battle of Manila anniversary held in Intramuros , Manila. JOAN BONDOC

MANILA, Philippines–Former President Fidel V. Ramos on Saturday criticized the Aquino administration for hemming and hawing in the aftermath of the Jan. 25 clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, where 44 police commandos were killed.

“You must balance your actions with hot pursuit, this is law enforcement with peacemaking,” Ramos said in a speech during ceremonies in Intramuros marking the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Manila.

Ramos recalled military action against rebel groups that burned down Ipil town in Zamboanga in April 1995 ahead of the signing of a peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which he helped broker as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“The Ipil raid in April 1995, this was seen by us as an attempt, just like now, to destroy the peace agreement we were about to sign with the (MNLF),” Ramos said.

The Aquino administration is bent on passing a draft Bangsamoro Basic Law that would implement a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

But the clash between SAF commandos and guerrillas from the MILF and its splinter group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) has thrown in doubt the passage of the BBL by March as planned.

The SAF commandos went into Mamasapano to take down Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” and his Filipino deputy, Abdul Basit Usman, but got into gun battles with the Moro guerrillas after the mission.

In 1995, “200 members of the lost command groups of the MILF, Abu Sayyaf Group and Islamic Command Center killed 50 people, including military officers and cops, robbed seven banks and burned everything in (Ipil) and then they escaped,” Ramos said.

“The following day, I was there and ordered hot pursuit until they were all decimated at the tip of Zamboanga Norte peninsula. Twenty of them, out of the 200, jumped into a boat and fled to Basilan and disappeared. For five years, we did not see the Abu Sayyaf and the lost command now called BIFF,” Ramos said.