LAZT EDITORIAL

We're not stupid...
   If we are to believe officials of the Philippine military--- whose areas of responsibility include the Sulu Archipelago where two Jehova's Witness preachers were kidnapped then beheaded a few days ago---the armed Muslim group who abducted six people this week were not Abu Sayyaf rebels, but drug "addicts."
    If you're not from Southern Philippines, it is very easy to buy the military story. But the truth is we're from the region and yes, we DO NOT buy the military story. Period.
     Addicts may steal, stage robberies or holdups---but kidnap six Christian preachers then eventually beheading two of them?
     These actions do not reflect the mind frame of drug addicts, but Muslim "fanatics."
Con quien sila quiere ase loco? Canatun?
     The fact that the Arroyo Regime claims that the Abu Sayyaf ("a spent force") now only has 150 to 200 armed men and at the same time deploying 6,000 (yes, six thousand) troops to go after 14 "drug addicts" who were behind the abduction --- only tells us that the Philippine military and its Commander-in-Chief are lying to us.
     Father Cirilo Nacorda, parish priest of St. Peter Parish in Lamitan, Basilan now claims that Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya is very much alive and was last seen in Maluso, Basilan two weeks ago---even after Pres. Arroyo led us to believe that Sabaya was killed last June 21 in a clash at sea with US-trained Philippine elite troops off the Sibuco coast in Zamboanga del Norte.
     The abduction of six Christians and beheadings of two of the hostages came three weeks after 960 US military advisers pulled out of Zamboanga City and Basilan at the conclusion of "Operation Balikatan", a six-month training exercise with Philippine troops fighting the Abu Sayyaf in the region.
     Pres. Arroyo hailed the joint Philippine-Amercian military operations against the Muslim rebel group as a complete success and described Abu Sayyaf as "a spent force" and no longer a threat.
     Finally, a deadline of five days was given for the kidnappers to release the remaining four hostages---all women and all belonging to the Jehova's Witness---unconditionally.
     So when did the Philippine military ever had an upper hand in the military campaign against the Abu Sayyaf? How come they're trying to call the shots?
     We don't believe that the abductors were "addicts" as the military claims. We don't believe that this latest kidnaping will be resolved in five days. We don't believe that the Abu Sayyaf is now, in the words of Pres. Arroyo, "a spent force."
     We're not stupid...