President Aquino acknowledged yesterday the need to intensify intelligence information gathering to prevent a repeat of the Zamboanga City siege. “Siyempre, mas gugustuhin natin ‘pag nagpopoporma pa lang, ano, ay hindi na maka-porma,” said Aquino who returned to Manila last Sunday after staying for more than a week in Zamboanga City where he supervised the military offensives against the armed followers of Nur Misuari. Though the military troops are reportedly close to defeating the gunmen in Zamboanga City, the President also conceded that he cannot give an “absolute guarantee” a similar attack would not happen again. He, however, assured that government troops are “ready” to deal with any threats to the country’s peace and order. “Kaya ba natin bantayan everywhere all the time? Siyempre, puwedeng makasingit, tulad ng nangyari sa Davao. Kanina sa news, Kenya at saka, Iraq. Kenya, shopping mall raw ang tinira, napakaraming sugatan,” the President said during a press interview last Sunday in Zamboanga City. “So hindi ko naman mabibigyan ng absolute guarantee na never again,” Aquino added. Aquino emphasized that the government has demonstrated its firm ability to respond quickly to the siege mounted by Misuari group in Zamboanga City. He said military forces have applied “surgical” and “deliberate” operations to clear out the areas occupied by the rebels and protect the hostages. He noted that rebels initially wanted to occupy the Zamboanga City hall to paralyze the local government but the military was able to stop them. As the Misuari fighters were forced to scatter, he said soldiers were deployed “in a very rapid fashion” to quell the violence. “We did not have any problem in terms of logistics to supply them. The government, the Armed Forces and the police demonstrated they can respond anywhere,” he added.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 02:43:17 +0000
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