| PGMA's Statement on "Mindanao Punitive Operations" |
Laurel Room, Malacanang (16 May 2003) |
| Today, I authorized the Armed
Forces of the Philippines to employ selective aerial and artillery attacks to dislodge
embedded terrorist cells that have attacked hapless civilian communities and murdered
scores of innocent Filipinos in Mindanao. This is in support of military operations that have been ongoing, in varying degrees of intensity, over the past week in the Zamboanga peninsula, the Lanao provinces and Maguindanao. We've decided to use extraordinary punitive force not merely in view of tactical necessity, but to signify the determination of government to bring terrorists to justice. I ask Congress to stand behind the people and the government in this action. The local government units in the areas affected have been informed and many of them have heightened their vigilance against reprisals. This is a time for all Filipinos to stand together, to fight and sacrifice together. The relief agencies of government are on alert for a possible surge of evacuees in the affected areas. We shall work with local communities to provide food, shelter and medicine to temporarily dislocated families. I encourage the private sector to gather resources for humanitarian assistance. We've seen that terrorism strikes anywhere, anytime, from the remotest barangays in Mindanao to the capitals of the world. The world in the post iraq war period has achieved greater strategic stability, but this has driven militant cells to deeper desperation. Our country has been under terrorist attack sporadic, intermittent but nevertheless, deadly. Davao city has been bombed twice. Siocon and Maigo have been assaulted with impunity. Koronadal has been attacked. Christians and Muslims have been killed. Filipinos have also been killed and wounded in a terrorist attack in Riyadh. We're victims in our own land and elsewhere. We must fight back now or face greater peril in the future. All Filipinos must be vigilant wherever they are. Secretary Renato de Villa, my adviser on strategic concerns, will help me coordinate the holistic approach to this campaign. This holistic approach will encompass the political, diplomatic, military, cultural, economic, humanitarian, and information aspects of the campaign. Regular information briefings on the tactical and humanitarian situation will be handled by the military division commanders teaming up with the regional directors of the DSWD. I shall embark on a state visit to the United States tonight bearing in mind the need to bolster our strategic relationship with the United States as well as with our neighbors in the fight against terrorism as we face a new global horizon cast by post-war Iraq. We have to continue to reach out to the Islamic nations through the OIC. to press our principled stand against a common enemy, while seeking consensus for the security and welfare of Muslim Filipinos. This is not simply a war of guns and bullets. It's a strategic war of will and vision. We shall tighten the noose of military operations, anti poverty programs and diplomatic initiatives until the threat of terrorism is beaten. We will nurture the seeds of a principled, secure and enduring peace. We will banish despair and bring a new light of hope. We shall build the ramparts of the strong republic in Mindanao. I order our soldiers to carry on; I ask our people to stand behind them. Thank you and may God bless us all. |