A challenge to Dirty Rody

Sunset at the seawall of the SM Mall of Asia last Saturday was an SRO event. That’s sitting, not standing room only, since the MOA management does not allow standing on the concrete seawall. Groups of foreigners clicked away with phone cameras, enjoying the famous Manila Bay sunset on a day with clear skies and no rain.

Although the MOA was packed, I didn’t detect any unusually tighter security measures on the first day of the nationwide “state of lawlessness” declared by Malacañang. Driving home in the evening, I ran into the usual heavy Saturday traffic but no police checkpoints.

Perhaps everyone was still (as the joke of the day went) in a state of confusion over what a state of lawlessness meant exactly, so people just went on with business as usual.

In fact, going on with business as usual is the ideal response to a terrorist attack. It’s the best way to thumb one’s nose at those who seek to sow fear and disrupt normal life. It’s the strongest message that society refuses to be terrorized.

Of course, realistically, it is prudent to tighten security after an attack, especially one staged by a group that clearly has no compunctions about taking human life.

Tightening security inevitably involves certain restrictions on personal liberties or changes in daily routines.

The Abu Sayyaf, which claimed responsibility for the bombing in Davao City, has already scored a postattack victory by forcing President Duterte to scrap his visit to Brunei. The cancelation was unfortunate but necessary; the commander-in-chief needed to personally coordinate the state’s response and show quickly that the government was in firm control, aside from serving as mourner-in-chief. So far, the groups in this country that in recent years have shown this kind of vile disregard for the lives of innocent civilians are the Abu Sayyaf, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, its supposed splinter group the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, their mother group the Moro National Liberation Front and their foreign ally Jemaah Islamiyah. The MILF is now discussing peace with the government while the largest faction of the MNLF yesterday condemned the Davao attack.

More than condemnation, it would be a great confidence-building gesture for both the MILF and another MNLF faction led by Nur Misuari to help the Duterte administration not only to get the Davao bombers but also to deliver on his promise to “crush” the Abu Sayyaf.

The Islamic separatists and extremists in Mindanao have close ties, linked by blood, marriage, tribal alliances or friendship. They have turf wars and other differences and violence can erupt among them, but their networks make it possible for them to pinpoint those responsible for specific operations.

For sure President Rody, who is part Muslim, knows this. He should lean on those professing to want peace in Mindanao to help him bring the Davao bombers to justice and, for the long term, to neutralize the Abu Sayyaf.

Several of his predecessors had also vowed to “crush” the Abu Sayyaf. Under previous administrations, the group lost its founding brothers the Janjalanis and its top commanders were killed. Like most terrorist cells, however, the Abu Sayyaf is a multi-headed monster and, by most accounts, still has at least two old-timers leading the group.

Being a former local government executive, President Rody should also harbor suspicions that certain local officials are protecting the Abu Sayyaf, which continues to earn millions of dollars from its kidnapping activities. As the President himself disclosed last week in a moment of pique, $50 million was paid in ransom for a Norwegian birdwatcher, and still the Abu Sayyaf refused to release the hostage. That kind of money rivals profits from large-scale drug trafficking.

Abu Sayyaf and rogue MNLF members are holed out in Jolo, the capital and main island of Sulu. During visits to the island I asked security officers how hard it was to flush out armed groups from such a small area. They told me that the jungle is dense – Jolo is one area where the forest cover has been preserved, the better to conceal lawless enclaves. The security officers also pointed out that the mountainous terrain is dotted with small caves where hostages and their captors can be safe from artillery and aerial bombardment.

As for a naval blockade, at least three former Armed Forces chiefs have told me, on condition that I would never name them even after their deaths, that the AFP lacked the capability for it, even for such a small area.

And a blockade can’t work anyway if local officials themselves are in cahoots with the lawless elements.

Even mass murderers who decapitate captives and lop off the breasts of nuns have human needs. They can’t keep living in caves or makeshift huts; they need some constructions materials for sturdier shelter. They can’t subsist forever on camote or sweet potatoes. They can’t move around with livestock in tow, especially noisy goats and chickens clucking and crowing, without being detected. They need candles, matches, medicine, clothing and presumably toothpaste and soap. They need rice; they probably want spices and instant coffee.

I mention the coffee because an Islamic militant, in a radio interview last year by satellite phone, was asked where he was. He said he was relaxing in “Starbook.” Wow, what was he drinking at Starbucks, the interviewer wanted to know. The quick reply: “3-in-1 !”

The cheekiness would be amusing if only we didn’t know how vicious the militants could be.

How hard is it to detect and follow the supply routes to neutralize terrorists? Impossibly hard, for those looking the other way or getting a share from those millions of dollars in ransom.

We’re waiting for the administration to define exactly what a state of lawlessness would entail.

It’s not martial law and no civil rights would be suspended, Palace officials have assured the public.

Security sources have indicated to me that it involves, among other things, an even more brutal crackdown on certain communities from Mindanao to Metro Manila.

The attack in Davao, launched while the President was at home in his city, was a direct, resounding slap on Dirty Rody. Perhaps his response will put an end to business as usual in the land of the Abu Sayyaf.