InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will not conduct pursuit operations against members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) following the bloody Basilan encounter that left 19 people dead as a military official revealed that President Benigno Aquino III expressed "dissatisfaction" over the military's performance in recent events.
Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr., deputy chief of staff of operations of the AFP, said Aquino himself ordered no pursuit operations against the MILF due to an existing ceasefire agreement.
The President was briefed of the events that led to the encounter in Basilan and that he was "dissatisfied," Mabanta said.
"He expressed dissatisfaction over the series of event that happened starting with Taganito (and) with the performance of the armed forces," Mabanta said following the command conference presided by the President at Camp Aguinaldo. Taganito is one of the three mining firms that were attacked by the New People's Army in Claver, Surigao del Norte.
"He (Aquino) said we have to step up our operations," Mabanta said.
The military will review its present organizational setup particularly in critical areas such as Jolo in Sulu and in Basilan following the incident.
Mabanta said that while there would be no pursuit operations against the MILF in Al Barka, murder charges would be filed against some of its members due to the massacre of 19 soldiers.
"Wala tayo planong gano'n ( We don't have plans to attack Al Barka). Peace is on top of our minds and eventually we want to attain peace so we have to wait. Hindi puwede basta basta, (We can't be hasty) we have to assess the situation," he said.
"Even if we need to take some harsher moves eventually what is on top of our mind is the success of the peace process," Mabanta added.
The AFP, meanwhile, is "saddened" by reports that soldiers on the ground were demoralized but "we have to move on," Mabanta said.
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