Press Release
July 22, 2007

PIMENTEL BACKS FORCEFUL ACTION BY AFP
AGAINST KILLERS OF MARINES AND BOSSI KIDNAPPERS

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban) today backed the punitive action that will be taken by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against lawless elements who ambushed the Marines in Basilan on July 10, killing 14 of them, and beheading and decapitating 10 of the casualties.

"Whoever committed the gruesome crime," Pimentel said, "should be pursued relentlessly by government troops and brought to justice in keeping with the duty of duly-constituted authorities to maintain and uphold law and order."

He emphasized that the ongoing peace process should not be used as a shield or excuse to spare the rogue elements who were positively identified as having participated in the carnage.

"Let it not be said that because of the peace negotiation, we should hold off action against the culprits or just let this tragic event pass," the senator from Mindanao said.

"It is the duty of the AFP to track down and arrest the persons responsible for this atrocity. The AFP and the government will be remiss in their responsibility if nothing is done to punish the culprits."

"This barbaric incident calls for forceful response by the government."

Pimentel also said the AFP, as well as the Philippine National Police, should strike hard against the bandits who abducted Italian priest, Fr. Giancarlo Bossi, saying failure to do so would only embolden them to continue plying their nefarious trade.

"It is time the bad elements operating as kidnap and extortion gangs even in Moroland should be disbanded and stopped in their tracks," he said.

"Otherwise, they provide the rationale for the spiralling of violence in Moroland where the innocent Muslim traders, peasants, professionals, women and children wind up as victims."

Likewise, Pimentel urged the government to call upon the local political leaders in Basilan, led by the provincial governor, to show their leadership in combatting kidnap-for-ransom, extortion and other crimes in their respective areas of responsibility.

"After all, law and order is a function of civilian authorities, both in the national and local levels. Therefore the government should utilize the infrastructure of local governance to restore law and order in their own locality, specially in these troubled areas," he said.

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