That certainly seemed the case on Sept. 16. On that day Estrada–under pressure to free 19 hostages (including three Malaysians, an American and the two Frenchmen) held by Abu Sayyaf for months–ordered a military attack on the island. Early the next morning F-5 fighter jets thundered over Sulu, dropping bombs. Four battalions of Philippine soldiers rumbled into the dense tropical rain forest. The bandits fled from their camps, leading the Frenchmen and other hostages on a four-day jungle trek. On the fourth night, the rebels panicked as they crossed an open road. Le Garrec and Madura jumped into the jungle and ran. The next morning they flagged down a military truck. Estrada claimed the escape was proof the rescue operation was succeeding–though at the weekend the 17 other hostages remained in the hands of Abu Sayyaf. Waiting for his flight back to Paris, Le Garrec was bitter. “We felt,” he told NEWSWEEK, “that if we didn’t save ourselves, no one would.”
What really needs saving is Mindanao, the beleaguered southern province that’s home to Abu Sayyaf and most of the Philippines’ minority Muslim population (4 million out of a total 70 million in the predominantly Roman Catholic country). Mindanao is rich in natural resources but a basket case in most every other way; it has the highest poverty, illiteracy and infant-mortality rates in the country–problems that have fed Muslim grievances for decades. Rebel armies, inspired by Islamic ideology, have battled the Philippine military on and off since the mid-1970s. Kidnappings–first as part of the ideological jihad, then simply for money–have proliferated. Manila has increased development aid–and international funds have begun to trickle in. But the region remains what it has been for a generation: a morass of violence and instability. Glenda Gloria, co-author of “Under the Crescent Moon: Rebellion in Mindanao,” contends that Manila has always dealt with Mindanao in the wrong way–“with weapons and bribes,” which has never worked. The government recently changed tack and began a gentler engagement with discontented Muslims, but as Gloria points out, “now that policy has been disrupted.”
That’s just it. There are always disruptions in Mindanao–and along with the rebels, Estrada must share the blame. The president is a former action-movie star, and he has adopted a gung-ho approach to government. In military operations, he seems especially quick-triggered. Under a 1996 peace agreement, Manila granted limited autonomy to four of Mindanao’s islands. But Muslims were not appeased, and talks have dragged on. In 1998, not long after his election, Estrada became impatient and launched what he called an “all-out war” on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), his chief adversary in Mindanao, and other rebel groups. The Army assaults please the public–they boost the president’s approval ratings–but stoke even more hostility among Muslims.
The current crisis is serious because unlike Mindanao’s older rebel groups that are motivated by ideology, the Abu Sayyaf are bandits out to make money. Since 1998 the rebels have kidnapped 100 people, killing dozens. Estrada has steadfastly refused to meet their demands for money. But that sensible response was wrecked this month when Libya, looking for a way to enhance its international reputation, paid Abu Sayyaf $10 million to free 10 European hostages. Bad idea: after releasing one group of innocents (mostly tourists and journalists), the rebels went out and grabbed a few more. On Aug. 28, an American Muslim, Jeffrey Schilling, was captured when he visited an Abu Sayyaf camp. Then, within hours after releasing the last of the group on Sept. 9, they grabbed three local resort workers from a nearby Malaysian island. Estrada was outraged–and scrambled the jets. The Philippine House of Representatives immediately passed a resolution praising the decision “to stop the revolving door of kidnappings by the Abu Sayyaf, which has dragged down the economy and made the country the object of scorn all over the world.”
Estrada himself vowed to “pulverize” the Abu Sayyaf. That hasn’t happened. The Army claims to have captured 20 Abu Sayyaf bandits. But the only sign of victory has come not from Sulu–which remains cut off from communications and transportation connections–but from an Army base in Zamboanga City on the main island of Mindanao. There the military last week produced two alleged Abu Sayyaf members. Blindfolded and handcuffed, the young men were presented to reporters. “We are not Abu Sayyaf,” said one of the captured men. “We are just fish vendors.”
As victory spoils go, it was a paltry haul. But Col. Jovenal D. Narcise, the 48-year-old Army leader in Zamboanga City, seemed pleased. Narcise claims the Army has the upper hand in Mindanao. To prove his point, he unveiled a Web site last week showing, he said, the Army’s many successes–including the number of guns and radios seized. Still, even the colonel recognizes that that Army action is not the answer to Mindanao’s woes. “You have to give more opportunities to the Muslims,” he says candidly, “opportunity for work, education and services, and opportunities to improve their standard of living. The need here is for good governance.”
Prof. Ustadz Shariff M. Julabbi agrees. A teacher of Islamic literature on Sulu, he is now chairman of the western Mindanao branch of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. He says the MILF condemns the kidnapping and terrorism practiced by the smaller Abu Sayaff. But he shares its rage and bitterness. The MILF wants an independent Islamic state in Mindanao; that issue is a nonstarter in Manila. “We are second-class citizens,” Julabbi asserts. “There is no Muslim senator, there is no Muslim cabinet minister, there is no Muslim in the Supreme Court. This is why we are raising up arms against the government, because of the injustices.”
Most Catholics, angry about Muslim atrocities, are not sympathetic to the Muslim cause. Father Angel Calvo, a Spanish priest who has lived in Mindanao for 30 years, has known several priests who have been murdered by Muslim extremists. “The Muslims’ basic motivation has been money,” Calvo says. “But they have another one–to force everyone in the area to follow the ways of Islam. They’re obsessed by the [idea] that it is their territory.”
Last week the Abu Sayaff were reportedly calling for a ceasefire. Still in captivity, American Jeffrey Schilling contacted a Zamboangan radio station via a satellite phone and asked Manila to “immediately cease” the rescue operation and resume negotiations. But Estrada vowed to keep up the attack until all the hostages were released. Even if that were to happen, the president would be unwise to crow about a victory. In Mindanao, good news doesn’t last long.
