There now appears to be a brewing ‘word war’ between Sen. Gordon, as chair of the Philippine National Red Cross and Sec. Teodoro as head of the Department of National Defense over the continuing crisis in Sulu as two remaining hostages are not freed by the Abu Sayyaf unless at least four towns in Sulu have military troops withdrawn.
From the outline, it would seem that Gordon is doing what he does in his capacity as a Senator if secondarily as co-associate of ICRC. Now, Teodoro has to accuse Gordon of meddling with the ongoing efforts of the military in taking center stage over how the negotiation is being done and in what direction it will lead. True enough, the matter should be better left to the field commander on the ground if not to the local government unit that is equally best in the know on how to deal with a segment of its constituency.
On the other hand, finding success in the first phase of the whole problem – the release of Mary Jean Lacaba, the Filipina hostage kidnapped along with two other foreign nationals – Gordon probably deems it well within his new-found role to be able to free the other two hostages still held in custody, if and only if, he can somehow call the shots, not just as self-appointed negotiator.
There is still a looming crisis on whether the two left hostages will be set free or that they will be beheaded if the withdrawal of troops in four Sulu towns will not be met. Where it reads, Teodoro is not inclined to give in to the demands asked by the ASG while Gordon would just be quick to pass the blame on GMA in the event the remaining two kidnapped victims get beheaded by their captors.
How then does one solve such equation?
Teodoro resented remarks of Gordon saying that the lives of the ICRC workers now lie in the hands of GMA as it can be interpreted as having absolved the ASG of the hostage crisis. Thus Teodoro instead said – “the fate of the hostages is not in the hands of the president but of the kidnappers”.
As far as Teodoro sees it however, the safe release of lady Lacaba can be attributed to the redeployment of military troops without having to give in to whatever demands and the reapplication of pressure and not in having given in to what ASG has asked.
Amidst the interfering noise from within the bureaucracy itself, how then will the hostage crisis end and be resolved? Who should call the shots?
From where I stand, given that the hostage crisis has taken place in that part of Mindanao, it behooves upon the local government unit concerned to take a principal role in its eventual resolution with the help of the military or police, if need be.
Furthermore, while it is true that Gordon is willing enough to take the cudgels, his role must only be recommendatory but it shall still be the military or the crisis committee that should take the lead role in going about the crisis.
While the problem might appear as a local one, it is of national as well as international implication given that there is a suspicion that this has been participated in by known persons with links in the international terrorist link. Hence, more studied efforts must come into play and critical choices have to be made. In the end, the release of Lacaba may just be testing the waters. There must be more than meets the eyes here.
It can only be hoped that the government is able to breeze through this crisis with lives saved, no violence ought to erupt, and mutual co-existence of two conflicting ideologies remains a status quo.
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From my point of view, it is within Gordon`s responsibility as a Red Cross commissioner to ensure that negotiations will lead to a safe release of the foreign captives. Though he is not the only one concerned, a great part of it is still his. Yet Gordon`s folly is that as soon as he saw that talks are beginning to become desperate he immediately passes the buck to the government. Clearly what he wants is a share of the accomplishment should negotiations end successfully, while on the other side he wants to keep his hands clean of any shortcomings if the negotiations turn into a disaster.
What I mean is that because the hostages are ICRC workers that Gordon, as Red Cross head, must be concerned.
How will it end?
Two of the possibilities:
— the ICRC crisis ends like the Burnham crisis;
— the ICRC crisis ends as had happened with Roger Francisco, Wilner Santos, and Jelowie Teodoro, kidnapped-for-ransom by Parad.
How will the hostage situation end?
‘Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.’
I’m pretty sure the crisis team in the ground has a contingency plan much better than the above cliche. Except that too many national and local politicians keep getting in the way. Plus the alleged involvement of barangay officials and policemen in the area creates a possible unhappy ending.
Huwag naman sana, Kumander Parad.
This is the trouble, if we have a sitting Senator and a Chairman
of the Philippine Red Cross at the same time. He is confuse of his
duties. As Senator or as a Chairman.
He should leave all the decisions to those involved. Not to put
his nose on the matter. This is a serious political and military
business we are dealing. People who are Religious Fanatics, determined
on killing innocent people, and are determined to be killed for
Martyrdom.
You’re right Vin – earning ‘pogi’ points requires a lot of tact.
Truth to tell, politicians love the work of rescuing hostages, don’t they.
Maybe someone here knows how to post actual videos when past rescues have really taken place.
We remember some names and faces like Loren Legarda, Bong Revilla, who else?