WHILE the rest of the country is busy preparing for the elections, with March 25 as the start of the campaign for local positions and the campaign for national positions is currently heating up, terrorism in the South has reared its ugly head again.
Recent reports said two suspected members of the Daulah Islamiyah were killed during an armed encounter with government troops in Polomolok, South Cotabato.
The Western Mindanao Command reported that the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion and members of the Daulah Islamiyah figured in a firefight in Barangay Lapu. After the encounter, the bodies of two rebel fighters were recovered. They were Zypol Nilong and Salahuddin Usman. The troops recovered two M16 rifles, 90 rounds of 5.56-mm Ball ammunition, a rifle grenade, improvised explosive device components, communications equipment, and other items.
‘The state’s duty to protect itself through the timely and efficient use of military force against terrorism is necessary for its survival.’
In the wake of these developments, Malacañang is constrained to push the military’s anti-terrorism operations in Lanao del Sur, which the Palace said are aimed to protect civilians and ensure peace and order in the region. Specifically, the Philippine Air Force has launched air strikes against members of the Islamic State-linked Daulah Islamiyah in Maguing, Lanao del Sur.
Former Palace spokesman Karlo Nograles said, “We must protect our civilians and ensure peace and order so all of the operations of our security, justice, and peace cluster is all towards the attainment of full peace and the end of terrorism. The directive really is for us to attain total peace by stopping the operations of these terrorist organizations and groups.”
As the terrorists of Jihad ramp up their activities in the Southern Philippines, the government should not waver in mounting a state defense effort, as mandated by the Anti-Terrorism Law. It is to forestall the growth of terrorism that this law was passed by Congress and signed by the President.
The state’s duty to protect itself through the timely and efficient use of military force against terrorism is necessary for its survival. In the particular case of the Philippines, it is also resorted to by the administration to prevent another Marawi siege that wreaked havoc in that part of Mindanao a few years ago.
