AFP/Manila
Five Philippine soldiers have been arrested for looting during a lengthy battle against guerrillas, a military spokesman said yesterday, in the first such disciplinary action in recent memory.
The soldiers were seen looting on September 20 while their comrades were battling members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) who had occupied parts of the port city of Zamboanga for over two weeks, said Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala. “Soldiers reported fellow soldiers looting... and this was received by higher headquarters. The chief of staff ordered them arrested and investigated,” he said.
Zagala said the objects looted by the soldiers, including a firearm and “personal items”, were returned to their owners.
“It doesn’t matter, even though they are involved in the fight... if what they were doing was wrong,” he added.
Philippine security forces have long been criticised for abuses, with troops rarely punished for misdeeds on the battlefield.
Hundreds of soldiers and policemen have been engaged in combat in Zamboanga City since September 9 when about 200 MNLF members entered the city in the most serious armed challenge to the Philippine government in recent years.
Fifteen soldiers and police have been killed along with at least 104 MNLF members, police have said.
Scores of MNLF fighters have also been arrested or surrendered but others are still at large, holding civilians as human shields.
In Zamboanga City, MG-520 attack helicopters and an SF-260 airplane were seen yesterday, firing rockets and machineguns at a mangrove swamp where MNLF members are believed to be hiding.
Navy ships were also seen firing on the swamp but it was not clear if they had hit anyone, eyewitnesses said.
Rebels release remaining hostages
Rebels in the southern Philippines released their remaining hostages early yesterday, the military said, after clashes in Midsayap town in North Cotobato province claimed 10 lives.
The military said four soldiers, four rebels and two civilians, were killed during fighting with members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Liberation Front (BIFF), which stormed the town on Monday. The mayor of the town was reported as saying that the rebels had fled and schools would reopen, the day after about 150 rebels attacked the area. The BIFF, a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), is opposed to a peace agreement being finalised between the government and the MILF.
Military regional spokesman Colonel Dickson Hermoso said the BIFF took people hostage as troops closed in on Monday.
Captain Antonio Bulao, a military official in the area, said the rebels had originally planned to take over portions of the national highway but moved instead to Midsayap when militiamen and soldiers arrived.
