Hunt down the culprits. This is the mission of the company of Marines detailed with the Presidential Security Group, which was sent off by no less than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Saturday.
This is in line with the earlier directive of the President for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) "to hunt down and arrest those who treacherously killed and beheaded the soldiers," stressing "there can be no excuses or alibis for these acts of savagery."
It would be recalled that the Moro Islamic Liberation Army fighters mercilessly killed on July 10 in Basilan, fourteen members of the Marines, beheading and mutilating ten of them, while on a mission to rescue kidnapped Italian priest Gian Carlo Bossi.
The President’s action of sacrificing her own personal security by sending a part of the Presidential Security Group to help in the manhunt, only shows that the Philippine Government values the life of the 14 marines and the it will never allow any one to trample on the rule of law and put a threat on the peace and security of the people, by sowing terrorist acts.
As aptly stated in the invocation of PSG Chaplain Col. Pelagio Namocatcat, Jr. when he called on the Almighty God to make the marines lovers of peace but ever prepared to defend it.
The barbaric killing and mutilation of the 14 Marines also led the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO) to announce its support for any "punitive action" by the military against the group that perpetrated the "cruel and animalistic conduct of decapitating and chopping off private parts, ears, arms and legs of the dead Marines (that) cannot but evoke anger as it is horrifying."
In a statement, the AGFO, headed by retired Brig. Gen. Jaime Echevarria, said justice has to be "meted against the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf for perpetrating such hideous and dreadful crimes."
The government continues its search for lasting peace in Mindanao to ensure that the Filipino people will continue to live in an atmosphere of security and development.
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