Marcos vows justice for soldiers slain in ambush

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Monday vowed swift justice for four soldiers who got ambushed by an Islamic State-inspired group in southern Philippines on Sunday.

“We strongly condemn the cowardly ambush that targeted four of our courageous soldiers in Maguindanao del Sur on March 17,” he posted on social media platform X. “This despicable act only strengthens our resolve to eradicate terrorism from the region and our entire nation.”

The ambush allegedly by the group Dawlah Islamiya happened days after Filipino Muslims started their month-long fasting for Ramadan.

It was said to be in retaliation for the death of the terror group’s 26 followers in separate state operations in the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur and Sultan Kudarat in the past two years, according to a report by the Philippine Star, citing text messages from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), which has ties to Dawlah Islamiya.

The President said the government would provide benefits and assistance to the victims’ families, adding that it would boost anti-terror efforts.

“Let this tragic event unite us in our unwavering commitment to a safer, stronger and insurgency-free Philippines,” he said. “Together, we shall prevail against these acts of violence.”

The Armed Forces of the Philippines in a statement vowed to hunt down and neutralize the attackers.

In a reply to Mr. Marcos’ X post, former Senator Panfilo M. Lacson said the country’s 2020 Anti-Terror law “punishes inchoate offense.”

“Its purpose is to help save lives by conducting preemptive strikes against terrorists,” said Mr. Lacson, who is an ex-national police chief. “They only need to be equipped with good, actionable intelligence in this regard.”

The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, which repealed a 2007 Human Security Act, had faced more than 30 lawsuits at the Supreme Court, with critics fearing that it could be used to stifle dissent.

In 2021, the High Court voided a clause in the law that says a protest could be considered terrorism if it is intended to cause death or physical harm or to create a serious public safety risk. That provision was “overbroad and violative of freedom of expression,” it said.

It upheld warrantless arrests and the 24-day detention of suspects.

The BIFF is a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which entered into a peace agreement with the government in 2014, paving the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in 2019.

Last month, four Philippine soldiers were killed, and four others were injured in a military encounter with the Dawlah Islamiyah-Maute Group in Lanao del Norte.

The military said two members of the extremist group were killed in the operation, adding to the deaths of 18 Dawlah Islamiyah-Maute Group members, including the alleged mastermind of the blast at the Mindanao State University in December.

The bombing happened while a Catholic mass was being held in the university’s gymnasium, killing 11 people.

Marawi City is still recovering from a five-month war in 2017 between state forces and the Maute group.

Meanwhile, Mr. Marcos touted at an oath-taking ceremony for new star-rank police officers that crimes in the country went down to 207,143 in 2022 from 295,382 in 2017.

“We brought it down further to 198,617 in the first full year of this administration,” he said in a speech.

Mr. Marcos also said index crimes fell to 38,436 last year from 107,899 in 2017.

“Compared with January to February of last year, there were fewer cases of theft, robbery, carnapping, rape and physical injury,” he said. “And we have done it without resorting to legal shortcuts, or short-circuiting the process or acts that subvert the rule of law.”

Mr. Marcos also said human rights violations in the Philippines dropped by 50% last year from 2022.

“It proves that rules that strengthen the fabric of our democracy, rules that our heroes had died for, rules enshrined in our Constitution, are not inconveniences in policing but are in fact integral and indispensable in serving justice,” he said.

“We should not be content with the current decrease in crime rates,” Mr. Marcos said. “While the statistics can be counted, and crime incidents reduced, even in their diminished state, the disturbance they cause is still immeasurable.”