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Military intelligence and ATB

The recent arrest of Abu Tagalog, suspected of being a terrorist, and the allegations that Julius Babao bailed out suspected terrorist Tyrone “Dawud” Santos show the inefficiency and unreliability of the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).

The Abu Tagalog arrested in Baguio City the other day is already the 5th Abu Tagalog that the military has arrested on suspicion of being a member of Abu Sayaff involved in the Dos Palmas kidnapping. He was arrested even if another Abu Tagalog, also implicated in the Dos Palmas kidnapping, is already in Bilibid Prisons.

Certainly, intelligence (if it could be called intelligence) reports on Abu Tagalog is inaccurate — may be there is more than one Abu Tagalog in the Abu Sayyaf Group or they have simply forgotten that there is an Abu Tagalog in prison. Whichever, it proves that intelligence reports cannot be relied upon.

Another example is the Julis Babao case. The military and Malacañang have openly accused Babao of “cuddling a terrorist” by allegedly bailing out Tyrone Santos even if all they could hold on are circumstantial evidence or more appropriately, tsismis. The worst part, the government thru Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales is already floating the idea that some media persons are involved in or are supporting terrorist groups.

If there is any reason behind the Abu Tagalog and Julius Babao cases, it is to create an atmosphere of terror so as to push Congress to the pass of the Anti-Terrorism Bill (ATB). Arresting Abu Tagalog in Baguio City shows that terrorism is already wide-spread and not limited in Manila and in Mindanao. In addition, implicating Mr. Babao shows that the web of support for terrorism is in place and should be dismantled.

But if analyzed further, implicating Mr. Babao is another attempt to silence the media who have been very critical of the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Furthermore, it also sends a signal to the opposition that GMA will do everything to silence the critics. If Malacañang can do it on a journalist, a member of the so called fourth estate, then it can also do the same to the opposition in Congress and Senate.

Lastly, the Abu Tagalog and Julius Babao cases only prove one thing — the ATB will only be used to curtail the growing opposition so that GMA will prolong her stay in Malacañang. #

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