Make Mindanao safe

The Armed Forces of the Philippines clarified that the Indonesian military, particularly the Navy, will only be allowed inside Philippine waters to escort their commercial vessels in delivering goods to the country. This is in line with an agreement made in 1975 regarding the pursuit of terrorists and crimi-nals operating in the seas. No Indonesian soldiers will be allowed to set foot on Philippine soil, as stated in the Constitution.

The clarification came after Indonesia released a statement where Philippine authorities allegedly gave permission for the Indonesian military to participate in the efforts to rescue the most recent seven hostages taken by the Abu Sayyaf. As to where that came from is a mystery. It was either an overzealous pronouncement by the Indonesian government, or a faux pas by our government that had to be rectified.

I for one am not complaining. Having Indonesian warships escorting coal barges and the like is a welcome development indeed. Most of the abductions happened in the seas anyway.

If the Abu Sayyaf is still foolish enough to try anything, they will be blown out of the water.

In fact, the Indonesian navy should be given permission to fire upon any Abu Sayyaf targeting any commercial or private vessel, not just Indonesian ones.

According to the AFP, they know the location of the hostages and are already conducting operations to rescue them. Aside from the seven Indonesians, the ASG is still holding Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad.

I hope the AFP is finally successful in crushing the ASG once and for all. The new AFP Chief of Staff is supposedly raring to do that. If the military can chase the ASG, then perhaps the Indonesian navy can block their escape routes by sea. Technically, Indonesian troops are not on Philippine soil, so it should be okay to do just that. So we can finally put an end to this terrorist group. Criminals, actually. The ASG does not stand for any ideology as they are simply greedy for money.

The economy of the country is already affected by their criminal activities. I'm sure Mindanao needs their supply of coal to fire up their power plants. A halt to coal deliveries because of the scourge of the ASG simply will not do. Why the ASG enjoys some semblance of support from locals is baffling.

For as long as the ASG operates with impunity, Mindanao will never be considered safe. We have seen that many foreigners want to retire in Mindanao. All the more reason to make it a truly safe place for everyone.