Learning experience

Aday after the clash in Inabanga town between three pumpboat-loads of Abu Sayyaf Group terrorists and elements of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 and the Central Command (Centcom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines last Tuesday, government still could not provide the public with information on what the Abus were planning to do in Bohol. This is not surprising because government troops are still flushing out the terrorists who survived the initial firefight.

In the press conference attended by Bohol Gov. Edgar Chatto, Inabanga Mayor Josephine Jumamoy, PRO 7 Chief Noli Taliño and Centcom Chief Oscar Lactao, what was confirmed was the number of deaths in the clash: three soldiers, one policeman and six terrorists. Also confirmed was the conduct of air strikes against the armed group, the first time in Bohol in decades.

The estimated number of terrorists aboard the three pump boats was 10 to 11. Either the survivors are still in the mountains of Inabanga and nearby towns or they have fled Bohol. The latter possibility could only happen if the Abus left behind their firearms and mingled with civilians. But if they are still in the mountains, they continue to present security threats to the locals.

Why Inabanga? That is the question I have been asking and one I am trying to find an answer from the authorities. As I have noted in my column yesterday, Inabanga is too far from Bohol’s urban center of Tagbilaran or its number one tourist destination of Panglao island, which is also the venue of some of the Asean Summit meetings. That negates any plan to kidnap tourists, which was what the United States Embassy’s travel advisory warned, or disrupt the summit.

I also doubt if the Abus were in Inabanga to set up a base in the Bohol hinterlands to conduct terrorist activities. That is not the way the Abus operate and, as the experience of the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels showed, is not advisable considering geography.

Again, as I have noted in a previous column, Inabanga can be a good jump-off point for operations not on Tagbilaran but on Mactan island or even nearby coasts of the Cebu mainland. Inabanga is closer, I think to Cordova town in Mactan. Remember that time years ago when the proposal for Cebu to buy water from Bohol became an issue? The water was supposed to be sourced from Inabanga and brought to Mactan through a 30-kilometer submarine pipeline.

If so, we may have to thank the Boholanos for the vigilance they exhibited. Reports by Inabanga folk of the presence of armed men in their area was key in the government’s success to thwart whatever plans the Abus may have for Bohol and Cebu. I hope the same vigilance would be exhibited by Cebuanos. Every suspicious act should be reported to the authorities.

Meanwhile, the Inabanga clash should give Cebu a glimpse of where it might be vulnerable to attacks by terrorists wanting to kidnap tourists. Earlier travel advisories point to south Cebu as a vulnerable area. The coasts of Mactan are, too, by groups that may use Bohol as jump-off point. I mean, this one is a learning experience for all of us.