A joint congressional investigation on the Marawi siege must be immediately conducted, not only to pinpoint responsibility as to why and how it happened, but more so to prevent it from recurring.
Here are a few suggestions and some stark lessons learned from the incident:
- With a population of 201,785 and a total land area of 8,755 hectares, Marawi City, Lanao del Sur’s capital, is roughly divided into 96 barangays at 91 hectares each, making them the most closely knit local government unit in Mindanao.
Specifically, it is bounded by Kapai and Saguiaran towns to the north; Lake Lanao to the south; Bubong and Ditsaan municipalities to the east; and Marantao town to the west, not far from the popular Bagang Beach and the city’s commercial center.
By inference, Marawi City, the Islamic and educational capital of the Moro autonomous region, is the most secured place in the whole of Mindanao with 96 brigades comprising more than 1,000 barangay officials, tanods and militias under the local peace and order councils serving as safety and security multipliers for the police forces and two military brigades (marines and army) at both ends of the city. Another army brigade is in Iligan City, and an army division is also in Cagayan de Oro City.
How a handful of Islamic States of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-affiliated terrorists easily captured the city defies intelligence, safety and security logic from both the military and civilian standpoints.
- The defense department must explain why it adopted a conventional war doctrine against a handful of Maute terrorists, inordinately using large forces from Luzon and the unified commands in Mindanao with jetfighters, drones, tanks, artillery pieces and explosives that resulted in massive destruction of infrastructure and friendly fire casualties, instead of just using a cost-effective small-unit operation by the police and military who are trained to fight in urban guerrilla warfare?
The number of casualties from the military and police alone estimated at 165 killed and more than 1,000 wounded validated what many observers said that the unnecessary presence of so many government combatants presented sitting-duck targets to the terrorists in an area supposedly under control by local government units.
There were no accurate reports on how many enemies and civilians were killed or wounded as of this writing, but the death toll could be more as on the 128th day of the Marawi siege alone, the death toll to government troops already stood at 152 and 711 members of the ISIS-inspired Maute terrorist group.
- The idea of rebuilding the city in a systematic way is already upsetting. For instance, the city has a population of 201,785, but there are already more than 400,000 people claiming to be victims of the siege. In short, war freaks and scoundrels are now at play.
- Contractors of every size and shade are busy pushing and outsmarting one another at the departments of Public Works, National Defense, the Interior and Local Government and the Trade and Industry, hoping to get choice cuts for the multibillion-peso rebuilding program of the government. By the way, this is a job that could be handled by military engineers and builders at a cost.
- Instead of arms and other war materiels, the Duterte administrations should opt for funds, construction equipment and expertise from other countries willing to help.
- A strategic plan must be drawn up, starting with a clear understanding of the problem, how to solve it, what are the means required to accomplish it and make sure that the government will not spend more than necessary.
- The need for a point man, preferably a structural engineer, to oversee the rebuilding process is absolutely advisable so that mistakes of the past are not repeated, such as corruption, buck passing and finger pointing.
- The bad habit of claiming credit, just like at the end of the Marawi attack, has again shown its ugly head among government officials and military officers, a situation where bootlickers are rewarded rather than the achievers, who actually risked their lives, the comfort of their homes and their loved ones while fighting the enemies of the State.
On reflection, I am sure our bright and idealistic lawmakers have a lot more to say and will come up with the right combination of policies to correct the inequities, bearing in mind their fundamental obligations to represent the will of the people, properly allocate public funds and protect and secure the State and its four elements—people, government, territory and sovereignty—in all circumstances.
Otherwise, the government will again be wasting time and resources, creating and managing crises, instead of shaping the future.
To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@gmail.com.