Failure of b’gay, SK polls in Sulu hurting military ops vs Abus

A top military official expressed concern yesterday over the special elections in 70 villages in Sulu that could hamper operations against Abu Sayyaf bandits and Indonesian terrorists hiding in the island province.

Maj. Gen. Nelson Allaga, commander of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) said there are proposals to assign soldiers to secure the polling precincts in the special polls for barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections and also appoint troopers as members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI).

“Our operations are ongoing as intelligence reports come, but our focus is just a little bit distracted because there were failure of elections in 70 barangays in Sulu,” he said.

Allaga said government troops are continuing their pursuit operations against the remnants of the notorious Abu Sayyaf group and Indonesian terrorists Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both members of the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah that are wanted for the bombings in Bali, Indonesia in 2002 wherein more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists, were killed.

“They are still running around Sulu. They have not escaped and we are continuously running after them,” Allaga said.

When asked if the proposal to have soldiers serve as BEI members would violate the spirit of the Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of National Defense and the Commission on Elections, Allaga said: “That is prohibited, but if there is no choice, we cannot do anything. Anyway, we are deputized by the Comelec.”

He said there had been no formal order from the Comelec for soldiers to sit as BEI members in special polls in Sulu but there are proposals for the military to render poll duty to replace the public school teachers.

Since Aug. 1, the military has deployed at least four brigades of Army soldiers and Marines in the island province to run after the Abu Sayyaf and the JI bombers.

Allaga said as a result of their ongoing operations, their units have already neutralized 12 Abu Sayyaf members.

“So it means we are not faltering in our operations,” he said.