The real loose firearms – those that are smuggled from overseas, seized from government forces or bought in the thriving local black market, all of which are never registered – were once again in use the other day in Lanao del Sur. Gunmen commandeered a jeepney and held hostage 22 passengers, 20 of them schoolgirls who were on their way to take a college entrance examination. The other two passengers were members of the staff from the girls’ high school, which is attached to the Mindanao State University. Six of the girls were freed. The others managed to escape as government forces pursued the band, which the military said was a kidnapping group active in the province. A policeman was killed in the pursuit, which continued until yesterday.
Military officers said the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has resumed peace negotiations with the government, helped in the pursuit. That is welcome news, but it will be even more welcome if the MILF can purge its ranks of supporters of Jemaah Islamiyah, which is using MILF-protected enclaves in Mindanao to train recruits in the ways of terrorism.
Apart from JI, MILF renegades and little-known kidnapping groups, go-vernment forces in Mindanao must also contend with the Abu Sayyaf, the Pentagon gang, the New People’s Army which is the largest armed group outside the Armed Forces of the Philippines, drug dealers, smugglers as well as the private armies of numerous political kingpins. Incidents such as the kidnapping of the students in Lanao the other day are a constant reminder that the rule of the gun prevails in Mindanao. It may still be a long way from "an Afghanistan situa-tion," but Mindanao is getting there.