EDITORIAL - Slaughter in Maguindanao

Lack of coordination, according to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, led to the “unfortunate” gun battles last Sunday in Maguindanao that left 49 members of the elite police Special Action Force dead.

The SAF men were reportedly hunting down a foreign bomb maker of the terror cell Jemaah Islamiyah when they walked into an ambush by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, with the MILF subsequently joining in. The BIFF is supposed to be a breakaway faction of the MILF. Previous violent attacks by the BIFF amid the ongoing peace talks were disowned by MILF leaders. What are the two groups doing in a joint operation?

The attack has revived questions on whether the MILF leadership speaks for the majority of Islamic separatists in the peace process. Peace negotiators have dismissed the BIFF together with a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front identified with its founding chieftain Nur Misuari as “spoilers.” So what’s the MILF doing together with the “spoilers” in what can be described as a massacre of government forces?

As part of confidence-building measures in the peace process, the MILF has even promised to assist the government in hunting down troublemakers. The SAF team was looking for Malaysian Jemaah Islamiyah militant Zulkifli bin Hir, better known as Marwan, when they were ambushed.

As of yesterday, President Aquino said the peace process with the MILF would continue. At the Senate, however, deliberations on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law were suspended as lawmakers demanded an explanation from the MILF for the attack.

Forty-nine is a grievous toll for an operation attributed to a misunderstanding and lack of coordination. Forty-nine is a slaughter that is likely to invite retaliation, even if the Philippine National Police commanders at Camp Crame order the troops to stand down.

A survivor described the attack as brutal, with the guerrillas chasing the wounded and finishing them off, and pumping more bullets into those already lying dead. With the truce arising from the peace process, the MILF is expected to help neutralize the BIFF. That the MILF, by its own admission, instead joined the BIFF in the slaughter does not bode well for the peace process.